Canadian expat files case against 2 men in Islamabad for sexually harassing her

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The woman said she was followed from Bahria Town to Islamabad by two men in a car. ─ Photo courtesy Asoomiijay Instagram
The woman said she was followed from Bahria Town to Islamabad by two men in a car. ─ Photo courtesy Asoomiijay Instagram

A Canadian model and humanitarian worker registered a case on Tuesday against two suspects for alleged sexual harassment and infringement of her rights.

A first information report registered at the Sihala police station quoted the woman, identified as Lahore-based Assma Galuta, saying she was in Bahria Town Phase 7 when two men in a car began "harassing me, telling me to get into the car".

"When I told them to leave me alone, they started laughing. They blocked me from getting into my Uber and then followed my Uber from Bahria Town to Islamabad, trying to block the driver and even asking the driver for my drop-off location," she stated.

Because they were following her, she said, she had to change her drop-off location and hide in a nearby mall until she thought they had gone. "Then I went to my AirBnB," she said, adding that she had their vehicle details and a video of them as proof.

Read more: The Canadian model who filed a harassment case in Islamabad slams critics for victim-blaming

The suspects have been booked under Sections 342 (punishment for wrongful confinement), 511 (punishment for attempting to commit offences punishable with imprisonment for life or imprisonment), 354 (assault or use of criminal force to woman and stripping her of her clothes), and 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation) of the Pakistan Penal Code.

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