Rejecting the police request for an extension in the physical remand of three suspects in the case of an attack on a teenage girl in Ichhra Bazaar of Lahore for wearing the dress with Arabic words printed on it, an anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Lahore on Thursday sent them to jail on a 14-day physical remand instead, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

Earlier, the police produced Muhammad Nadeem, Adil Sarwar and Altamash Saqlain in the court of Judge Arshad Javed.   

Speaking in the courtroom, the investigation officer (IO) in the case said that although three-day physical remand period was over, still the investigation was not complete as yet; therefore the court was requested to grant an extension in the physical remand of the suspects. “We have to recover rods and sticks from them. We also have to interrogate them about their accomplices,” the officer said.  

He went on to say that the suspects had tried to kill the girl. “Besides that, they also tried to harass her by inciting the mob,” the IO said, adding, “However, the police by taking timely action saved the girl’s life.”

On February 26, swift action by the Lahore police in the crowded Ichra Bazaar saved a teenage girl wearing a dress with Arabic calligraphy printed on it from an attack by a charged mob, which alleged that she had committed blasphemy.

The situation turned ugly after someone alleged that the girl’s dress was bearing Quranic verses.

However, some shopkeepers defended the girl and sheltered her in a shop, telling the mob it was just an Arabic calligraphy, and not Quranic verses.

As per eyewitnesses, most of the people in the mob were either customers, visitors or passersby.

A video clip, doing rounds on social media, shows the girl hiding in a shop shivering with fear of being attacked by the mob.

Reporter: Jamaluddin Jamali