Suspects in Canadian expat's harassment case arrested in Islamabad

Published April 18, 2019
Canadian expat Assma Galuta alleged the two men had harassed her and told her to get into their car, following her from Bahria Town to Islamabad when she refused. ─ Photo courtesy Shakeel Qarar
Canadian expat Assma Galuta alleged the two men had harassed her and told her to get into their car, following her from Bahria Town to Islamabad when she refused. ─ Photo courtesy Shakeel Qarar

Two men were arrested in Islamabad on Thursday over their alleged sexual harassment of a Canadian expat.

Superintendent Police (SP) Rural Omer Khan said the suspects, identified as Hamza Sohail and Anas Kamran, were taken into custody and identified by Lahore-based model and humanitarian worker Assma Galuta, who had filed a case against them after the two began harassing her and telling her to get into their car in the Bahria Town Phase 7 area.

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In the FIR filed on April 16, Galuta stated that when she asked them to leave her alone, they started laughing. She accused them of blocking her from getting into her Uber and then followed her from Bahria Town to Islamabad. They also tried to block the driver and asked him for his passenger's drop-off location, the FIR said.

Galuta said in the FIR that she had to change her drop-off location and evade the suspects in a mall until they were gone before she could return to her lodgings. She added that she had video and vehicle details as proof.

The suspects were 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.

The suspects' car was taken into custody by police yesterday, SP Khan added.

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