ISLAMABAD, Oct 7: Speaker Chaudhry Amir Hussain on Friday agreed to withdraw the case of illegally entering the National Assembly hall against Sonia Naz, an alleged victim of rape by a police official, according to the MMA’s deputy parliamentary leader Hafiz Hussain Ahmed.

Mr Ahmed told Dawn that he raised the issue at a meeting of the house business advisory committee in the speaker’s chamber before beginning of assembly proceedings.

In June this year, Sonia was caught by the assembly staff when a treasury lawmaker Mehnaz Rafi pointed out that a woman (Sonia), who had made an unauthorized entry into the National Assembly, was sitting in one of the galleries of the lower house of parliament.

Mrs Naz was charged with trespassing on the National Assembly and sent to Adyiala Jail where she remained for sometime.

After being bailed out, she was abducted and, according to her, raped by a senior official of the Faisalabad police.

According to the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal leader, he told the speaker that Sonia had suffered a lot owing to her ‘innocence’ as she did not know about rules governing entry into the assembly.

He added that the woman had tremendously suffered at the hands of police ‘and other unscrupulous elements’ since then and it would be in fitness of things that she was absolved of the charge, at least.

The speaker agreed with the argument, said Mr Ahmed, and ordered his staff to ‘look into the legality of the issue and withdraw the case to provide Sonia some relief.