Women accused of May 9 riots being treated under law: Amir Mir

LAHORE: Caretaker Minister for Information Punjab Amir Mir has rejected propaganda of ill-treatment of women arrested for attacks on military and civilian installations on May 9, as completely false and misleading. 

He said that a so-called political party was trying to garner the false sympathies of the public by spreading toxic propaganda about women for its nefarious purposes, which would never succeed because the people have seen their real face by patronising miscreants.

Mir said the law-enforcement agencies arrested a total of 32 women, out of which 21 were released and 11 were currently in jails of Punjab on judicial remand. They were being treated according to the law and women prisoners themselves were testifying to good treatment by the law-enforcement agencies.

The caretaker minister said “Islam teaches us to honour and respect women and the government is the biggest torchbearer of women’s rights. “We cannot even imagine the mistreatment of women. Action is being taken according to the law against women involved in terrorist activities,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Punjab Prisons Inspector General has rubbished social media posts about the health of Khadija Shah deteriorating in jail. It was claimed on social media that she had been suffering from stomach pain for two days while the jail authorities have banned her meeting with family and home food. IG Mian Farooq Nazir rejected the posts about food poisoning as bogus. Khadija was presented in the Anti-Terrorism Court on May 24. The court sent her to jail for seven days following the identification parade.

The IG said meeting with parents would be allowed after the identification parade on court’s orders. He said social media is spreading disinformation posts. Those whose identification parade has been completed are being allowed to meet their families, he added.