LAHORE: TikToker Ayesha Akram, who was allegedly assaulted by her fans at Minar-i-Pakistan in 2021, has unconditionally pardoned all the suspects of the incident.

The TikToker woman along with her lawyer appeared before the court of Additional District and Sessions Judge Gul Abbas on Monday.

The woman recorded her statement and also filed an affidavit before the court saying she did not want to pursue the case against the suspects.

“I have no objection to the acquittal of the suspects,” the woman told the court, adding that her statement was not out of any fear.

The judge adjourned the acquittal applications of the suspects till Aug 26.

The court had in 2022 indicted 16 suspects including Amir Sohail alias Rambo, Arsalan, Abid Ahmad and Iftikhar.

Lorry Adda police had registered the FIR against 400 unidentified persons for assaulting the TikToker, molesting and stripping her clothes on the eve of Aug 14, 2021. The police later also arrested Ayesha’s team associate Rambo after she accused him of blackmailing.

The sections 354-A (assault or use of criminal force against woman and stripping her of her clothes), 382 (theft after preparation made for causing death, hurt or restraint in order to commit the theft), 147 (rioting) and 149 (unlawful assembly) of the Pakistan Penal Code had been included in the FIR.

In his media statements, Rambo claimed that it was the woman in fact who had been blackmailing him. He alleged that the TikToker implicated him in the FIR after he rejected her idea of minting money from the arrested persons for their release.

Published in Dawn, July 2nd, 2024