DHA assault case: Karachi court dismisses bail plea of two suspects

A judicial magistrate on Monday dismissed the bail application of two suspects in a case involving the abduction and alleged assault of a young man in DHA Phase 8.

Muhammad Ibrahim and Waqar Ali through their lawyers moved an application before the Judicial Magistrate (South) seeking post-arrest bail. They both were arrested soon after a video of the alleged assault went viral on social media.

The case came to light after the video circulated widely on social media, allegedly showing the suspects assaulting young man Syed Ali Jafri.

Jafri later approached the Sahil police station and registered a case under various sections of the Pakistan Penal Code, including those relating to acts committed by several people, causing injuries, damage to hair, kidnapping or abduction for wrongful confinement, and criminal intimidation.

In his complaint, Jafri said he initially chose not to report the incident because he was frightened. He said he went to the police after the alleged attackers shared a video of the assault on social media.

According to the FIR, Jafri had gone to an e-gaming centre in Bukhari Commercial with a friend. An acquaintance of his friend later joined them. Jafri said he had not met that person before.

The three then went to a nearby cafe. When they left the premises, a vehicle allegedly stopped in front of them. A man got out of the vehicle whom Jafri identified as another acquaintance of his friend.

Jafri alleged that the man hit him on the neck with a baseball bat. He said the same person and three unidentified men then forced him into the vehicle and took him to an empty plot on Sahil Avenue in DHA Phase 8.

The complainant alleged that he was beaten on his legs with the bat at the plot. He also claimed that his hair was pulled out and that he was then forced to “eat them”.

Jafri further alleged that one of the men had a gun and that the attackers filmed the assault.