LAHORE: An Anti Terrorism Court on Friday extended the judicial remand for one day of seven PTI women leaders and workers including former MNA Alia Hamza, Khadija Shah Sanam Javed and Tayyaba Raja in the Corpus Commander House attack case who rejected the claims of any mistreatment during their jail time.

Earlier the investigating officer told the court that the identification parade of the suspects had been conducted, however, a report in this regard was yet to be prepared. He said all the women suspects had been found involved in the attack on the Jinnah House.

The court allowed an opportunity to the IO to submit the report of the identification parade and extended the judicial remand of the women suspects till June 03.

During their appearance in court on Friday, the women workers confirmed that they were not being mistreated in jail. However, they said that keeping them in jail was “unfair” as they had not done anything wrong and should not have been jailed.

Responding to media queries, the PTI women workers denied the reports of their maltreatment or torture on them in the jail. They said the government should make cases under cyber laws if it had any problem with their social media posts.

“The biggest humiliation was that women were picked up at night from their homes. Women should not be subjected to such cases,” one of the worker said.

The PTI Chief Imran Khan alleged that his party’s female workers were being “molested and harassed” during custody, urging Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial to intervene and take notice of the matter.

Punjab Caretaker Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi had formed the two-member committee to investigate the allegations leveled by PTI.

The committee turned down PTI’s allegations related to the mistreatment of women in Punjab prisons.

The committee members termed the allegations “nothing but a pack of lies” as none of the 10 women they met separately informed them about being mistreated.

There’s a library and all women are being allowed to read any book they want, the members said.

“They were being produce clean drinking water and bed sheets and even if the women workers need clothes, the same are available for them”, the committee members added

The women workers were arrested in connection with the May 9 riots that erupted across the country after the former prime minister’s arrest.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023