LAHORE: A judicial magistrate on Saturday discharged a man accused of assaulting a petrol pump employee after the complainant reached a compromise with him.
The incident occurred at a Jubilee Town filling station when the suspect went there to get a refill. As the salesman asked him not to smoke on the premises, the suspect came out of his SUV and allegedly thrashed him before fleeing the scene.
The police arrested the suspect after CCTV footage of the incident went viral on social media.
Subsequently, Chung police produced the suspect before the court on Saturday and sought his 10-day physical remand for interrogation.
However, the complainant — the petrol station worker — told the court that the incident occurred due to a misunderstanding and that a compromise had been reached between them. The salesman further said he did not want to pursue the case any further.
At this, Judicial Magistrate Ali Amjid discharged the suspect from the case and ordered his release.
Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, who has commented on another recent altercation case as well, shared a video of the purported salesman slapping the arrested suspect while a cop attempted 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,” CM Maryam wrote.
“They arrogantly believe that money and power put them above the law, allowing them to exploit, intimidate, and act with impunity,” she added.
The chief minister declared that she stood “firmly with the oppressed, regardless of how powerful their oppressors may be”.
“Justice is not a privilege reserved for the rich and powerful; it is a fundamental right of every citizen. No one is above the law, and no victim should ever have to fight alone simply because the perpetrator has money or influence,” she maintained.
In September this year, police arrested one of the suspects who allegedly assaulted workers at a petrol pump near Allama Iqbal International Airport in Lahore.
A video of the incident had circulated across social media, showing a group of men, including an armed man, thrashing an employee of the petrol pump in the city’s Defence Housing Authority, sparking public outrage.