LAHORE: A judicial magistrate on Tuesday issued notices to police and the complainant on post-arrest bail petition of former Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI) leader Mufti Azizur Rehman in a case of sexually abusing a student of his madressah.

Rehman’s counsel Safdar Shaheen Pirzada contended in the petition that the complainant was hand in glove with the opponents of the petitioner at the seminary.

He said the allegations against the petitioner were not only bogus but unbelievable. He said the petitioner was 67 years old whereas the complainant was a young man of 26 years of age and it was even not possible to make the complainant a victim of the alleged offence.

The counsel argued that according to contents of the FIR no time and date to make video of the alleged incident had been mentioned but falsity was proved in the report of the forensic science agency. He said the forensic of the mobile phone and the USB furnished by the complainant found that the video was created on June 19, 2021 at 6:05pm after the registration of the FIR.

He further stated that the alleged offence had not been established in any of the medical reports of the complainant. He asked the court to accept the petition and release the petitioner on bail.

Magistrate Rana Shahzad Afzal sought replies from the investigating officer and the complainant by Aug 23.

North Cantt police had registered the FIR on charges of sexual assault and criminal intimidation against Mufti Rehman on the complaint of Sabir Shah, the student of Jamia Manzoorul Islam, Cantt.

The cleric went into hiding after the registration of the case as police arrested him from Mianwali. The student had shared a video clip of the sexual assault as a proof some days ago with police and the administration of the seminary.

In his complaint, the student alleged that Mufti Rehman got him and another student expelled on the charge of cheating in examinations of Wafaqul Madaris for three years.

Published in Dawn, August 18th, 2021