Islamabad (Staff Report/Agencies): A sessions court on Friday sentenced Usman Mirza — the main accused in the Islamabad harassment case — to life imprisonment for holding a couple at gunpoint, forcing them to strip, beating them up, and filming the entire ordeal.
Additional Sessions Judge Atta Rabbani sentenced four others to life imprisonment as well and acquitted two accomplices. All the accused, including Mirza, were presented in court during the hearing.
According to the court’s order, Mirza and his accomplices have been sentenced to life imprisonment under Section 354-A (assault or use of criminal force to a woman and stripping her of her clothes) of the Pakistan Penal Code.
The court has ordered them to pay a fine of Rs200,000 each. In case of non-payment, they would have to undergo six months of simple imprisonment.
The convicts have also been sentenced to seven years in prison for criminal intimidation (Section 506) and three years for intending to insult the modesty of a woman (Section 509(i)).
The sentences would run concurrently with the benefit of Section 382(B) (period of detention to be considered while awarding sentence of imprisonment) of the Criminal Procedure Code granted to the convicts.
Last year, in July, a video surfaced on social media in which the main accused in the case, Mirza, could be seen violently thrashing and harassing a young couple in a room full of other men.
