Foreign tourists cycling through Sadiqabad towards Lahore have reportedly alleged serious assault and sexual harassment by Punjab police after entering their jurisdiction on January 25.
A video capturing a police attack on them surfaced on Saturday. It was revealed on Sunday that this incident was one of several alleged assaults faced by the cycling tourists—Alex Sidney of Italy, Charlie West of the UK, and Motahhareh Abbasi of Iran—since they entered Punjab.
Despite having a Punjab police escort assigned for their security, the cyclists claim to have been allegedly attacked by the police meant to ensure their safety.
Alex, one of the three tourists cycling in Pakistan, commenced his bicycle journey from Italy in 2022. Over the last two years, he cycled through Europe before arriving in Pakistan. Mohtahhare joined Alex in Tehran while he was traveling towards Pakistan.
“On Saturday, when we left our hotel in Sadiqbad in the morning, we were escorted by police. We were having breakfast at a roadside hotel, when another police van, different from our escort, reached there. We had never seen these three policemen before,” Alex told a national daily.
According to Alex, ASI Liaqat began shouting at his Iranian friend Motahhareh to get up. He claimed that when they asked why, there was no response.
Instead, the officer allegedly attempted to snatch the camera, grabbed Alex by the hair, threw him to the ground, and tried to hit him with a large stick before returning to his vehicle with the camera.
Alex revealed that when the policeman instructed his driver to leave, they attempted to stop him.
Alex claimed that when Motahhareh tried to block the vehicle’s path, the policeman reportedly instructed the driver to run her over.
Alex asserted that he jumped onto the police vehicle to prevent his camera from being taken, but the vehicle sped away with him on board.
Furthermore, Alex stated that he kept shouting, urging the policemen to stop the vehicle. After covering a kilometer, the vehicle eventually stopped, allowing Alex to jump off. According to the Italian tourist, their own escort reportedly maintained a distance and did not intervene.
Thirty minutes later, more policemen arrived at the scene. The same vehicle returned, and the alleged policeman reportedly handed over Alex’s camera to an officer.
The policeman pointed his gun towards Motahhareh when she started recording him, Alex claimed.
Contrary to the police’s claim that the tourists were stopped from going to the unsafe area of Kashmore, Sindh, Alex said that they were going to Lahore, not Kashmore.
Alex stated that while cycling in Sindh, mostly escorted by police, they did not encounter any such incidents. He claimed that in Punjab, they followed the route as instructed by the police, and this was where the alleged incidents occurred.
According to Alex, this was not the first assault by the police. “We entered Punjab on Jan 25 and started having assaults and harassment from Jan 26. In earlier assaults, we were hit by police vehicles and motorcycles as they continued telling us that we were going the wrong way. We told them that we were going to a hotel on the national highway. They would try to knock us down.”
Motahhareh reported that in Punjab, policemen would drive their vehicles or ride motorcycles very close to her, occasionally forcing her to get off the road.
“On Jan 26, I fell down and got injured when a policeman stopped his motorcycle suddenly in front of her. And it was quite deliberate. I fell down and injured my leg while my heavy bags fell on me.”
Regarding the alleged assault, Alex said that they visited Ahmedpur Lamma Police Station to register a complaint. However, the policeman at the desk reportedly refused to do so and suggested they seek help through social media.
Motahhareh also made serious allegations of sexual harassment against Punjab police. “Many times, they asked me for my WhatsApp number and kept on insisting. When I asked them the reason, they would start insulting me. At the start, I gave my phone number to some of them and they started asking for pictures and sending creepy messages. For the last one month, I have been receiving creepy messages from Pakistani policemen.”
Motahhareh alleged that irrespective of the province, policemen from all three provinces they traveled in harassed her, with the situation being worse in Punjab.
