Female students at an Islamic school in Islamabad freed an alleged brothel owner yesterday after the woman donned a burqa and promised to shun "immoral acts."
The students at the madrasah in Islamabad had kidnapped the woman, identified only as Shamim, along with her daughter and a daughter-in-law on Tuesday, sparking a standoff with the government.
Clad in an identical black burqa to the ones worn by the students, the woman was brought before the media at the Jamia Hafsa school and read out a confession.
"I seek forgiveness for the sins that I have committed and declare I will live like a true Muslim and preacher of religion," Shamim said in the signed statement.
"I do confess getting involved in certain acts, which are considered moral crimes, with my house being misused for the purpose," she said.
She denied that she had been forced to sign the statement, but said that there were "several men, who tied and tortured me before I arrived here. But the attitude of the female students was exemplary."
She also said she had ``threatened to become a Christian'' over her treatment by the students.
``I don't think Islam allows anyone to beat a woman and drag her through the streets like a dog,'' she said, shortly before she was driven home in a car along with her daughter, daughter-in-law and six-month old granddaughter.
The kidnap sparked tensions in Islamabad when police arrested two female teachers from the school on Wednesday. Baton-wielding students then abducted two passing policemen.
The police officers and the teachers were freed late on Wednesday.
But the three women kidnapped from the "vice den" were held overnight and were only freed after a marathon meeting of mullahs, said the vice principal of the seminary, Abdul Rashid Ghazi.
Earlier Ghazi had said that Shamim and her relatives would not be freed unless police charge them as criminals. The police said they could not lodge a case against the women without any evidence.
The case has raised questions about the Pakistani government's willingness to tackle the hardline school in the center of the capital, following a series of incidents.
Many of the school's female students are still occupying a nearby government-run children's library after launching a protest in January against plans to demolish a mosque in the capital.
But Deputy Information Minister Tariq Azeem denied the government had showed weakness in its handling of the school, saying it was in talks to remove the protesters from the library.
"No one will be allowed to take the law into their own hands in the name of Islam," he told Geo television.
Amir Omar, a police officer at the station station near the mosque, said police would move against those responsible for Shamim's kidnapping. He didn't elaborate.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of
A prominent Christian leader has allegedly been stabbed at the altar during a Mass yesterday in southwest Sydney. Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was saying Mass at Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley just after 7pm when a man approached him at the altar and allegedly stabbed toward his head multiple times. A live stream of the Mass shows the congregation swarm forward toward Emmanuel before it was cut off. The church leader gained prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic, amassing a large online following, Officers attached to Fairfield City police area command attended a location on Welcome Street, Wakeley following reports a number