LAHORE: Video clips showing torture carried out on an actress and her sister allegedly by the daughters of a property tycoon in the city has sparked outrage and calls for justice without discrimination.

A large number of people jumped into a heated discussion after the release on social media of a footage in which a couple of women accompanied by men apparently in security guards’ uniform are seen to be storming a house and confronting actress Uzma Khan and her sister. A later video shows a woman who says she had gone to the house chasing her husband, Usman Malik and a woman he was allegedly having an affair with. This raiding woman is identified as a daughter of property tycoon Malik Riaz Hussain. She was said to be aided in this act of her by two sisters of hers.

In one of the earlier videos connected to the issue, Uzma Khan, who shot to fame with her movie Jawani Phir Nahi Ani, was seen in the short video clip terrified and pleading for mercy.

The other clips showed the attacking women abusing Uzma and her sister Huma, slapping and hurling life threats at them for having “relations with Usman”. The pictures also showed shattered glass and damaged articles in the house.

On Wednesday, the actress filed an application with the Lahore police seeking action against the attacking women and the armed men. In her application filed with the Defence C police station, Uzma Khan nominated Malik Riaz’s daughters Amina Usman Malik (the wife of Usman Malik), Pashmina Malik and Ambar Malik besides 15 armed men (private guards of these women) and sought criminal case against them.

Ms Uzma alleged that they stormed her residence in Phase IV of Defence Housing Authority (DHA) by breaking door at 10:30pm a day before Eid. She said she and her sister held them up in the lounge. Meanwhile, Amina Usman Malik attacked her sister and injured her with a broken bottle.

She said Pashmina, Ambar and their guards beat and dragged her (Uzma Khan). “Pashmina asked a guard to take me to a room to sexually abuse me,” Uzma wrote in the complaint. She said she started screaming and the armed men damaged the valuables including furniture. She further alleged that the attacking women asked them (Uzma and Huma) to stay away from Usman Malik and hurled life threats.

The armed men, she alleged, unlocked the lockers of her house and took away valuables including diamond rings worth over Rs5 million.

The movie star asked police to lodge an FIR, arrest the culprits and recover the looted items from them.

In a late night development, the police registered a case against the suspects, including Amina, Pashmina and Amber Malik.

Amina Malik later uploaded a video wherein she said the incident had nothing to do with her father who was being dragged into the controversy for personal reasons including. She cited past acrimonious relationship between her father and a member of Uzma’s team as a reason why there was so much eagerness on the part of the complainant party to mention Malik Riaz’s name in the context of this case. Not only this, she alleged there was a suggestion that she and others by her side could buy their way out of this trouble.

She said the incident took place at her husband’s house and she had every right to be there. She said she was there and she did expose the two women.

Senior policemen told Dawn that they had received an application from Uzma Khan and they would proceed after hearing both sides.

Published in Dawn, May 28th, 2020

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