KASUR: Allahabad police booked 18 people for blackening the face of a mentally challenged person, garlanding him with shoes and forcing him to take a round of the village allegedly over the suspicion of chasing a girl.

Police took action after the video of the incident went viral on social media.

According to complainant, Maria Bibi of the Muslim Town, Allahabad, Sharif, Adnan, Niamat, Imran, Asghar, Khalil, Shahzad, Saleem and 10 unidentified people caught her brother Usman on suspicion of harassing a girl.

The suspects blackened his face, tortured him and took him round the village wearing a garland of shoes. They made a video of the incident and uploaded it on social media.

The police, in a WhatsApp message to the media, claimed to have arrested five of the suspects, saying raids were being conducted for the arrest of the remaining suspects.

Meanwhile, A Division police arrested a shopkeeper for entering the premises of Government Islamia Degree College and harassing the students.

The accused shopkeeper had his shop in front of the college gate.

The deputy director colleges also sacked the security guard, Muhammad Sadiq, of the college for allegedly helping the shopkeeper, Azeem, enter the college premises.

The authorities were alerted when one of the students uploaded his application on social media to seek the help of police to check the practice.

On the complaint of Principal Prof Muhammad Akram, the police lodged a case against the shopkeeper and arrested him.

Published in Dawn, August 4th, 2023