KARACHI: YouTuber Rajab Butt was physically assaulted allegedly by some lawyers on the premises of the City Courts on Monday during the hearing of his bail plea in a case registered against him for allegedly hurting religious sentiments.

The incident also sparked a reaction from Sindh Home Minister Zia Lanjar, who termed the incident unfortunate and regrettable and told the media that it was not a good thing for the society that lawyers instead of protecting law took law into their own hands.

Also, the court extended the interim bail and adjourned the case until Jan 13, 2026.

Earlier, the YouTuber reached the City Courts along with his counsel, Mian Ali Ashfaq, and TikToker Nadeem Mubarak, also known as Nani Wala. However, due to the lawyers’ strike, the gates were closed, but the YouTuber managed to enter the complex.

Court extends pre-arrest bail of Rajab Butt in hurting religious sentiments case; home minister terms physical assault on social media influencer ‘regrettable’

Defence Counsel Mian Ashfaq wrote on his X platform: “Today, when my colleagues from our Karachi office and I appeared before the court at City Court Karachi along with our client, Rajab Butt, a few lawyers launched a life-threatening attack on him within the court premises, in our presence. As a result, he was injured, and despite repeated attempts to stop them, the assault and beating continued.

“[They] continued to beat him despite being repeatedly asked to stop,” Mian Ashfaq said, terming “such conduct by the lawyers unprofessional”.

He added, “Taking the law into their hands is weakening the reputation of lawyers in the country.”

The counsel further stated that if “lawyers will become a party [in cases] every other day and continue to attack private litigants on court premises, their respect will suffer an immense and continuous decline.”

A video shared after the incident showed Mr Butt, in a shirt torn from places, moving through a crowd surrounding him.

Another video showed him walking along with a group of lawyers, who were raising slogans “Karachi Bar Zindabad” (long live Karachi Bar). Among them was also Riaz Solangi, who is the complainant in the case registered against Mr Butt for allegedly hurting religious sentiments.

In the video, Advocate Solangi is seen saying Mr Butt had made a video in which he had used inappropriate words for lawyers. Another person in the group, who also appeared to be a lawyer from his attire, can be seen saying that “what has happened today, we did that over his words for lawyers and misbehaviour against them […] Anyone who says anything against lawyers will end up in the same condition”.

Later, Advocate Solangi told Dawn that after obtaining pre-arrest bail on December 20, the YouTuber had uploaded a vlog in which he allegedly used inappropriate language against lawyers in Karachi as well as against him. He claimed Mr Butt was later taken to the KBA committee room after a scuffle, where the YouTuber apologised to the lawyers.

Meanwhile, Mr Butt’s sister Ghazal Jawad, who is also a social media influencer, posted a collage of pictures on her Instagram account, showing injury marks on her brother’s body.

She wrote: “We want justice for Rajab bhai. If this is happening with a renowned face in Pakistan, then what about the aam awam [common people]?”

Mr Butt and TikToker Nadeem Mubarak, who have been facing legal proceedings in multiple cases, had returned to Pakistan together on December 10 from London after the Islamabad High Court (IHC) granted 10-day protective bail to the social media influencers in response to a petition filed by their relatives.

In January, Advocate Solangi had lodged a complaint against Mr Butt at the Hyderi Market police station under Section 295-A (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) of the Pakistan Penal Code.

Published in Dawn, December 30th, 2025