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🇵🇰 Pakistan /Crime & Justice

Lahore Court Withdraws Bail Pleas in Momina Iqbal Harassment Case

From Dawn · () English

Translated from English and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Under investigation
  • A Lahore court disposed of Saqib Chadhar’s and his wife’s interim pre-arrest bail petitions as withdrawn in a case involving actor Momina Iqbal’s harassment allegations.
  • A new investigating officer told the court that the investigation had changed and that the suspects’ arrests were not required at this stage.
  • Iqbal has alleged online harassment, cyberbullying, death threats and threatening communications linked to Chadhar, allegations he has not been convicted of in the proceedings described.

A Lahore court has disposed of the pre-arrest bail pleas of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz lawmaker Saqib Chadhar and his wife after a new investigating officer told the court that their arrest was not required at this stage.

The petitions were withdrawn on Thursday in the case involving television actor Momina Iqbal’s allegations of harassment. At the previous hearing on July 28, the former investigating officer, National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency official and SHO Najam Bajwa, had told the sessions court that Chadhar had been found guilty after the investigation.

The new officer, Hassan Sajjad Naqvi, said the investigation had since changed. An order seen by Dawn said the suspects had sought a fresh investigation based on “some new defence evidence”. Iqbal was separately summoned to appear on September 1 and provide a statement about that evidence. She attended the hearing when the investigating officer informed the court of the change, after which Chadhar and his wife withdrew their petitions.

online harassment, cyberbullying and death threats for a long time

· Momina IqbalThe actor described the alleged abuse in a social media post.

Iqbal alleged in a social media post in May that she had faced “online harassment, cyberbullying and death threats for a long time”. She said the alleged conduct had caused severe mental stress and trauma to her and her family. In a police application, she accused Chadhar of threatening calls, blackmail, WhatsApp messages and video calls after she rejected his marriage proposal. She also alleged that he sent threatening messages to her sister.

The NCCIA summoned Iqbal and Chadhar in May after receiving her complaint. Dawn reported that PML-N leadership directed the agency to act if the allegations against the ruling-party lawmaker were proven. The proceedings described in the case remain focused on the changed investigation and whether arrests are required.

A member of the provincial assembly belonging to the PML-N has been threatening me for an extended period. I repeatedly reported the matter to the NCCIA and the Federal Investigation Agency, but no action was taken

· Momina IqbalIqbal alleged that a PML-N provincial lawmaker had threatened her and that earlier complaints had not prompted action.
About this summary

Originally published by Dawn in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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