LAHORE: A sessions court in Lahore on Friday rejected the bail petition of former Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI) leader Mufti Azizur Rehman, accused of sexually abusing a madressah student.
Additional Sessions Judge Nauman Naeem dismissed the bail application after the completion of arguments by the lawyers. Mufti’s counsel contended before the court that his client was innocent and had maliciously been implicated in the case on the instigation of his rivals.
The counsel termed the video in which he was purportedly seen sexually abusing a student fabricated. “It is an era of information technology where this sort of video can be created within a couple of minutes by an expert,” he added.
He further said that since the police have already submitted the case challan in the court, there is no rationale behind keeping the applicant behind the bars
Meanwhile, the government’s lawyer argued that there was concrete evidence against the accused. “If he is released on bail, he could influence the trial”, the lawyer argued, pleading with the court to reject his bail application. After hearing arguments, the court dismissed the bail application.
This is the second time that the court has denied bail to Mufti Aziz, who was arrested in June this year after police had registered an FIR against him on charges of sexually assaulting a student of his madressah.
The case was registered on the complaint of the victim under Section 377 (unnatural offences) and Section 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation) of the Pakistan Penal Code.
In his complaint, the student had alleged that Mufti Aziz got him and another student expelled on the charge of cheating in examinations of Wafaqul Madaris for three years. The student had also shared a video clip of the sexual assault as proof with police and the seminary administration.
Mufti Aziz’s five sons have also been booked in the case for attacking the complainant with the intention to exact revenge and all of them have been granted bail.
