ISLAMABAD: A Senate panel, while discussing the viral video case of a couple in Islamabad on Wednesday directed the police to ensure strict punishment from court for all those involved in the case.

Senate Standing Committee on Interior, which met here at the Parliament House with Senator Mohsin Aziz in the chair, said that those involved must be punished so that such incidents are not repeated.

SSP Investigation Attaur Rehman told committee members that seven out of the eight suspects including the main one were in police custody and efforts are underway to arrest the last one.

He said as per preliminary investigation, the said incident was an “accidental one” and so far no evidence has come to the fore regarding involvement of the suspects in other such videos and sexual harassment cases. Eight more sections of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) have been added to the case in the light of the victims’ statements.

The main accused Usman Mirza, contrary to media reports has no political connections, he said, adding the incident took place in November last year but the video went viral this month. The SSP said that the victims are hesitant to get police security as they want to live a low-profile life.

However, committee members directed the police to ensure that security is provided to the couple, and if they are reluctant, then police should deploy police officials in plain clothes for their security.

Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Afzaal Ahmed Kousar also briefed committee members about the incident.

Chairman of the Committee Senator Mohsin Aziz, who had taken suo motu notice of the said incident and other committee members directed Islamabad police to take strict action against the suspects. Earlier, the meeting commenced with details of an untoward incident that took place on July, 12 2021 when a man was seen wielding weapons in front of Parliament House. Members said that this was a major security lapse and regular snap checks must be conducted to ensure that no such incident is repeated in the future. The committee sought a detailed report regarding the incident for the next meeting.

In the wake of the surge in Covid-19 cases, the committee chairman directed deputy commissioner Islamabad to beef up standard operating procedures (SOPs) in cattle markets and ensure that these are strictly implemented.

Discussing the Covid-19 (Prevention and Hoarding) Bill, 2021, members recommended that a limit must be specified; limits must be linked with the sales from the shop to the consumer and definitions for distributors, wholesalers and retailers must be specified along with each one’s limit.

The committee was briefed about the issue of child labour and members were informed by DG ICT and Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad (MCI) administrator Shafaq Hashmi that with the help of Unicef, a survey will be conducted in Islamabad next month on child labour that will help fight this menace effectively.

Published in Dawn, July 15th, 2021