Sexual harassment allegation: Committee recommends action against woman prisoner for false imputation.

Byline: Asif Chaudhry

LAHORE -- A seven-member inquiry panel has submitted its findings to Chief Secretary Jawad Rafiq Malik into the video leak of a woman prisoner who had levelled serious allegations of sexual harassment against a prisons department senior officer.

Chaired by IG Prisons Mirza Shahid Saleem Baig, the panel comprised DIG Prisons Qazi Mohammad Aslam, district jail superintendent Asad Warraich, deputy director inspectorate of prisons Athar Jan Dar, psychologists Sadia Zafar and Syeda Fatirna Hasnain and lady deputy superintendent central jail, Gujranwala Balqees Maryam.

While declaring the allegations of the woman false and fabricated, the committee has recommended to the home department forensic analysis of the video clip. It has also requested the authorities to pursue the case in the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to expedite the investigation into the case as the matter directly relates to the integrity of the Punjab prisons department as well as the senior officers serving there.

On the directions of the chief secretary, the home department had formed the inquiry panel and directed the IGP prisons to submit a detailed report in this respect.

The unidentified woman prisoner, in her recorded video clip, had levelled allegations of rape against a DIG prisons with involvement of other officers. She said 'abortion of babies' would follow if any victim got pregnant. She alleged the district jail Lahore's staff had been taking women prisoners to the office of the deputy inspector general (DIG) to 'sexually please him'. She had appealed to Prime Minister Imran Khan to take notice of the incident and order an impartial investigation to take action against the guilty officers.

The video clip had got viral on social media, showing the woman with covered face levelling serious allegations against the DIG.

'The allegations levelled in the said video are baseless, frivolous and fabricated just to malign and target the character of the officer (s) in question with some ulterior motives,' read findings of the report.

The committee is of the view that the contents of the viral video had not proved during the inquiry proceedings as no evidence was found regarding the violation of sanctity of women prisoners confined to the Central Jail, Lahore. The affairs of women ward are being run according to the relevant rules of Pakistan Prison Rules, 1978.

'The authorities concerned in FIA may also be requested to expedite the probe and to...