MURREE: Rawalpindi City Police Officer (CPO) Abbas Ahsan has taken notice of an incident in which a woman was assaulted, allegedly by hotel agents, in Murree.

A video about the assault went viral and was aired in the mainstream media, afterwhich the CPO suspended three police officials for turning the victim away, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Faryal told Dawn.

ASP Faryal said Bazaar police post in-charge Mazhar Ikram, moharrar Obaidullah and Constable Mohammad Aslam were suspended for negligence.

She said that after news spread about the assault the police tried to identify the victim but were unsuccessful. The victim was identified on Monday as Sania, a resident of Ghori Town Rawalpindi, and the police are trying to reach her to address her complaint.

The ASP added that a case has been registered with a traffic warden who was present at the scene as the complainant.

She said the principal suspect has been identified as a resident of Numbal in Murree, and three police parties have been formed to arrest him.

A woman was allegedly physically assaulted by hotel agents and then turned away by police

More police reserves and a Dolphin Force have also been requested from Rawalpindi to prevent such incidents in the future.

Two hotel agents on Saturday allegedly physically assaulted a woman on Mall Road in the presence of hundreds of tourists.

When the victim reached out to Police 15, she was told the incident had occurred outside their jurisdiction.

She received a similar response from the Choki Bazaar police, who told her the incident occurred in the jurisdiction of the Sunny Bank police chowki.

In a video, a person claiming to be the victim’s brother, standing with her and her children on the Mall, said his sister was humiliated and harassed by the agents, and when she reacted they physically assaulted her.

He had appealed to the chief justice of Pakistan to take notice of the incident and the behaviour of the Murree police.

Local notable figures and traders’ representatives have appealed to police high-ups to provide a sufficient police force and vehicles for the number of tourists who visit the hill resort.

At a meeting of stakeholders chaired by Murree Assistant Commissioner Imtiaz Ahmed Khichi, it was decided that no agent would be allowed to work without uniforms and hotel staff would be regularised, and agents would not be allowed to harass tourists at any cost.

Published in Dawn, December 18th, 2018