LAHORE: A TV show host, Ayesha Jahanzeb, was allegedly subjected to torture and humiliation in public by her husband on Wednesday.

Her husband, Haris Ali, was arrested by Sarwar Road police after the anchorperson appeared before the police with bruises and torture marks on her face and other body parts, soon after the alleged torture incident.

The police obtained two-day physical remand of the suspect and started investigations into the violence case lodged against him by Ms Jahanzeb.

In the FIR, she alleged that her husband turned abusive a few months after their marriage in 2015, but she tolerated his behaviour just to keep her marriage intact.

She stated that Haris kept on treating her harshly even in front of her minor daughters, adding that a few days back he badly thrashed her, pulling her hair and kicking her.

The anchorperson said these physical assaults on her left her two minor daughters in trauma.

She said that on Wednesday her husband again subjected her to severe torture on the main gate of her residence in the presence of neighbours, besides abusing her.

She said the attacker, who was also holding a gun, threatened the neighbours with dire consequences when some of them tried to rescue her, saying it was his ‘domestic matter’.

Meanwhile, she said, her driver Akthar and an electrician, Abdul Rehman, managed to rescue her. The suspect left the house when more neighbours started gathering there, she added.

Speaking to Samaa TV, where she hosts a show, she said it was the fourth incident of her physical torture by Haris during the current year, adding that she did not go public about the issue only for the sake of her children.

She revealed that the suspect had also divorced her recently.

About reasons for her husband’s abusive and violent behaviour, anchorperson Mansoor Ali Khan, speaking on behalf of Ms Jahanzeb, said Haris, who is a Sargodha-based businessman, had borrowed a huge amount from her, but was not ready to return it.

He further said the accused was pressing her to move to Sargodha, but she told him that she could not do so because of her profession.

Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif has taken notice of the torture incident and sought a report from Punjab IGP in this regard.

The CM ordered provision of the best available medical treatment to the injured anchorperson. “Women are my red line; any sort of torture of working women will not be tolerated,” she added.

Published in Dawn, July 11th, 2024