Daily Times

A young couple was arrested for allegedly kissing in a car parked in Islamabad’s city centre on Sunday.

The couple, who both around 18-19 years of age, were taken to the Karachi Company Police Station where they were formally booked for ‘obscene acts’ under Section 294 of the Pakistan Penal Code, an offence punishable with imprisonment for up to three months, or with fine, or both.

However after their arrest, both were released by the Station House Officer (SHO) on bail.

Officer Zulfiqar Ahmed, who is investigating the case, said that they received a complaint that the couple were “kissing and cuddling” in a car in G-9/3.

Zulfiqar Ahmed claims that the couple was still busy kissing and cuddling when the cops reached the scene and thus arrested them. “The girl was a G-8 resident while the boy lived in Sector G-7. Both were released on bail from the police station,” he said.

SHO Muhammad Bashir also maintained that the couple was kissing.

“This is a small matter. Media should report about serious crimes such as robberies, not these trivial things,” he added and did not respond to further queries.

It is pertinent to note that young couples visiting parks and shopping centres in the capital are often harassed, blackmailed and extorted by police officials. Several officials in the past have been booked for harassing and extorting young couples in public places.

Last week, a young college student was allegedly harassed and also sexually assaulted by Capital Development Authority (CDA) park officials as she was visiting the F-9 Park along with a male acquaintance.

After the incident caught the media attention, the police arrested the four suspects, two of whom are employees of CDA while the other two were private guards hired by the CDA.

Published in Daily Times, August 13^th 2018.