SSP Investigations Lahore Anoosh Masood and Deputy Commissioner Lahore Rafia Haider, members of a two-member government committee, dismissed Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) charges regarding the abuse and sexual assault of women in Punjab prisons.
They categorically refuted the allegations that Imran Khan-led party made in a press conference with journalists outside Kot Lakhpat Jail in Lahore.
The committee members denied the accusations, claiming that none of the 10 women they spoke with separately disclosed any mistreatment.
“I must mention here that a specialist and a gynecologist are present here. There’s a library present here and all women are being allowed to read any book they want,” Anoosh Masood Informed Journalists.
She further added: “There’s clean drinking water here. Bed sheets are clean here. Even if they need clothes, they are available for them.”
She added: “All inmates in the case, including Khadija Shah, were fine.”
The two-member committee
Caretaker Punjab Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi established a two-member committee to investigate PTI’s complaints of maltreatment of its female supporters in jails.
After the vandalism on May 9, authorities detained these supporters.
Imran Khan, the head of the PTI, claimed that the party’s followers, especially women, were experiencing “molestation and harassment.”
He pleaded with Pakistan’s Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial to step in and take notice of the situation.
There were also women among the tens of thousands of PTI employees who were detained in connection with the violence on May 9.
CM Naqvi
Initially, CM Naqvi asserted that authorities handled women in accordance with the law.
He has, however, now established a committee to look into the matter.
CM Naqvi had earlier said that the PTI was using propaganda to highlight the mistreatment of women in prisons.
Only 11 of the 32 women who were detained at the time, he said, are still behind bars. The chief minister also stated that it is the responsibility of his administration to safeguard the safety of “mothers and sisters.”
