"That man started calling them a prostitute"
Mariyam Nafees weighed in on the Lahore incident which saw three teenage girls on camera beating a salesman.
CCTV footage showed the trio hitting the salesman at a petrol station for allegedly harassing them.
The incident led to widespread criticism, with many sympathising with the salesman.
Celebrities also gave their thoughts.
Sanam Jung voiced her disappointment:
“Highly disappointed! They’ll get away, won’t they? Power and money over justice will prevail!”
Haroon Shahid expressed his shock and asked:
“What the h*ll is this? Who are these people?”
Meanwhile, Ahsan Khan asked: “Anyone know the whole story?”
Mariyam Nafees then came forward to defend the girls while also claiming that she personally knew them.
She said: “Unfortunately, we live in a society where you have to provide proof if you have been harassed.
“And the ones who demand it are usually the ones who have been harassed themselves several times, so none of this [public reaction] comes as a shock to me.”
Hitting out at the criticism directed at them, Mariyam continued:
“They were educated, and of course, they saw a random guy and started beating him up! Is that what you think?”
She went on to say that the girls were subjected to lewd comments from the salesman and that their only crime was that they were wearing Western clothes.
Mariyam said: “Those girls are now getting death threats and rape threats.
“But no one knows the other side of the story. That man started calling them a prostitute and used other filthy words before telling them to get out.
“So they asked, ‘Why should we get out?’
“Just because the girls were wearing Western clothes and had stepped out for some tea, people assumed they were public property.
“I just want to know, if girls are wearing Western clothes, is there any safety? Is there any accountability?
“You men out there – if another man starts commenting on the chest size of your mother or sister, how would you react?”
In response to claims that the girls are using their wealth to gain the upper hand in seeking justice, Mariyam Nafees hit back:
“None of these girls come from powerful families.
“One of them has come from another city. This is not an act of power.”
Ending with a plea for those in charge to step forward with the complete footage, Mariyam asked:
“Where is the pump owner? There must be a voice recording of this. Please release the recording where the pump salesman was verbally abusing the girls.
“Please release the audio so that we can get the complete picture.”
Hasan Raheem echoed her claims and said:
“These girls are not the daughters of a lawyer and this has been confirmed from multiple sources.
“The clerk in question had been passing remarks on the girls referring to them as prostitutes on night duty.
“You can see him passing a remark and then smirking in the video as well.
“When he was questioned as to why he was talking to them like that, he retaliated and abused them.
“The girls should have not raised their hands on him and that’s where they went wrong. They should have called the police on him.
“The person speaking in the video has also apologised for not speaking the full truth in the video.”
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