Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam’s (JUI) former leader Mufti Azizur Rehman has approached a district and session’s court for the grant of a post-arrest bail, days after a similar petition of his was dismissed by a judicial magistrate, reports Dawn.
He is accused of subjecting a student of his madressah to sexual abuse, of which the victim has reportedly presented video evidence. He is currently confined in District Jail, Lahore.
Mufti Aziz’s counsel Safdar Shaheen Pirzada, in his petition, has described his client as “an innocent, law-abiding citizen” who has been “falsely and maliciously” implicated in the case.
He claimed to himself be the victim of a conspiracy and “madressah politics”, as he accused the complainant of being “hands in glove” with his opponents, alleging that the case was hatched “in connivance with police”.
The petition described the victim as a “trapper”, and questioned why he was still residing at the hostel when he had been expelled from the madressah in 2018.
The petitioner pointed out the aforesaid point in an attempt to “show the hollowness of prosecution case”, also calling the plaintiff a “puppet in the hands” of his opponents who, he said, wanted to oust him from the office of Jamia Manzoor ul Islamia.
Mufti Aziz’s counsel disputed the occurrence of the allegation by saying that the place where the sexual act is supposed to have taken place is where he “is living with his family including adult sons, and therefore, it is highly unbelievable and unnatural that he would resort to alleged acts at the place where his whole family is residing.”
Regarding the video evidence against his client, the counsel argued that such videos “can be created within a couple of minutes”.
The petition cited the example of Titanic and other Hollywood movies in which “things are maneuvered and fabricated fictitiously, illegally which has no gensus (sic) with reality”.
“Therefore, it would not be impossible to create this sort of video,” the petition claimed.
Mufti Aziz’s counsel said that nothing was recovered from his client during the investigation and “therefore, further incarceration in any manner would not be beneficial for the prosecution case.”
He further said that his client was also willing to submit a surety to secure bail as he prayed the court for relief and the award of bail until a final verdict is reached in the case.
Subsequently, the court, following the hearing today, ordered the police to submit the case’s record on September 20.
