LAHORE: The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted bail to an alleged faith healer in an attempted rape case while expressing serious displeasure over the police for poor investigation.

A two-judge bench comprising acting Chief Justice of Pakistan Asif Saeed Khosa and Justice Manzoor Ahmad Malik that took up the bail petition observed that suspects got relief from courts due to faulty investigation by police.

The bench remarked that it was the responsibility of an investigation officer to determine whether a complainant levelled heinous allegations against suspect(s).

Ghaziabad police in Lahore had lodged a case against ‘faith healer’ Ijaz Butt on charges of sexual assault on a woman. Husband of the woman told the bench that his wife had visited the “fake faith healer” to get an amulet (taweez) when the suspect attempted to rape her. To a court query, the man said his wife had not told him before visiting the faith healer.

The bench regretted that police failed to hold a proper investigation into the case to find out the truth. It granted bail to the suspect, subject to furnishing of surety bonds worth Rs100,000.

Published in Dawn, December 20th, 2018