LAHORE: The police released a photograph of two girls to the media with their uncovered faces, claiming that they were arrested during a raid from private premises on charges of ‘immoral activities’.

The photo showed faces of terrified girls aged 20 to 24, standing next to a woman police constable and a male suspect. Interestingly, the face of the woman constable was covered with a piece of cloth.

The police ignored the fact that this simple act might destroy the life of the girls, their parents and other close family members in society. And they were yet only suspects, not the convicts or even accused.

Earlier, a similar incident had brought about embarrassment for the Punjab Police when a footage, released by the Factory Area police to the senior command for ‘reward,’ showed torture on the young girls arrested by a police team during a raid at a private house.

Arrest two girls from a private residence, show their faces to the media

The police authorities at that time had issued new instructions for raids on guesthouses/hotels and the release of photographs and other contents to the media while the senior officers claimed that they had not approved the move. The police continued using the decades-old conventional methods to get commendations from the bosses, particularly when it involves women, regardless of the social implications and nuances.

In the fresh case, the Nishtar Colony police claimed that they had arrested the girls along with the man from the private premises during a raid.

The police lodged a first information report (FIR) against them under sections 371A, 371B and 216 of the Pakistan Penal Code.

The sections 371A and 371B deal with allegations related to prostitution while Section 216 deals with harbouring robbers or dacoits.

The FIR also mentioned the old template story with the police claiming that they had ‘raided’ the house in Formanites Housing Scheme on the ‘secret information’ about the presence of a proclaimed offender, Sajjad alias Addu. The police further claimed that Sajjad ‘managed to escape’ but they had arrested the two girls and a man red-handed while being involved in immoral activities.

Nishtar Colony Police Station Sub-Inspector Muhammad Mushtaq appeared as the complainant while all the ‘police employees’ were witnesses of the incident which would be a very weak evidence before the court.

The release of the fresh photograph with uncovered faces of the women on petty crime charges, prior to pursuance of the case in the court of law, has kicked off a debate on the jurisdictions/limitations of the police.

The gender discrimination is at its worst when it comes to women suspects in police custody. It is evident from the routine practice as the police produce many alleged notorious criminals and terrorists before the media (in press conferences) with ‘covered faces’ while the women in this incident, and other similar ones, arrested in petty crimes are presented with ‘uncovered faces’. This is akin to vigilantism without charges being proven before the court of law. The police authorities, however, declared it an unethical practice, showing a resolve to discourage it at all levels.

“No one is allowed to release photographs of an accused involved in any criminal case, to the public – be that accused a woman or man,” said Operations DIG Waqas Nazir.

Talking to Dawn, he said the Lahore police strictly believed that mere allegation of doing something wrong must not be used against anyone, for defaming him/her through any medium, including visuals.

“In this particular case, the SP Model Town Division has been tasked with conducting an enquiry and present a report,” DIG Nazir said.

“Such ridiculous and counterproductive methods should be stopped at once,” Model Town Division SP Ali Waseem said while declaring the move by local police officials as an immoral and unethical approach.

He said that he would take stock of the situation before taking up the matter with the SHOs of his division in order to introduce a mechanism in future.

Published in Dawn, December 1st, 2018