Maryam warns women's attackers after Faisalabad assault arrest

Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz said on Monday that men who assault women will be made to face the same humiliation, after CCTV footage of a sales girl being pulled from behind a counter and thrown to the ground at a Faisalabad shop led to an arrest.

In a post on X, the chief minister wrote: "Dare to raise your hand against a helpless woman who leaves her home every day to earn an honest living, and be prepared to face the same humiliation. She will have the right and the opportunity to slap you back."

She was responding to footage from Kohinoor Plaza. Faisalabad police said in a statement that the girl had told the man the shop was meant for women only, and that the man, described as enraged, then physically assaulted her, yanking her from behind the counter and eventually throwing her to the ground. CCTV footage the police shared on X showed the shop was a lingerie store.

Police said the suspect has been arrested and legal proceedings have been initiated against him.

A visual post shared by the chief minister said the incident took place on Nov 8. It said the shop owner had come to the store to collect rent and the girl asked him to leave, telling him to contact the business owner instead.

"No one, no matter how wealthy, influential, or powerful, can now intimidate, exploit or harm an ordinary citizen with impunity. The state will stand firmly with the vulnerable and respond decisively to those who misuse their power," Ms Nawaz said on X, also sharing a video of the alleged victim hitting the suspect.

"The days of the powerful getting away with abusing the powerless are over. The state will hit back!" she said.

It is the third assault case in about a month in which the chief minister has publicly intervened. Last month she took notice of a man who assaulted a woman riding a scooty on Mozang Ring Road in Lahore. She said at the time that she had spoken to the victim and told her "she should slap the man as many times as he had slapped her", and that the woman replied it was enough for her that the government had made her feel protected, cared for and assured that justice was on her side. The chief minister later expressed displeasure at the suspect being granted bail.

In another incident last month, a man was accused of assaulting a petrol pump employee in Lahore. Ms Nawaz shared a video of the employee slapping the arrested suspect while a police officer tried to stop him.

"This is a tight slap in the face of those entitled, spoiled brats who look down upon the poor as if they were lesser human beings," she said. "They arrogantly believe that money and power put them above the law, allowing them to exploit, intimidate, and act with impunity."

The chief minister said she stood "firmly with the oppressed, regardless of how powerful their oppressors may be".