Pakistani singer faces lawsuit for accusing pop star of groping her

The criminal defamation charge was brought by the authorities after a complaint by the pop star she accused, Ali Zafar. If convicted, she could be sentenced to up to three years in prison.

Shafi’s supporters say his legal battles could affect women’s willingness to report allegations of sexual misconduct, and the outcome of the legal fight would define who is covered by a law designed to protect women from harassment in the workplace.

The harassment case “will decide the scope of the law to keep women safe in the workplace,” said Khwaja Ahmad Hosain, a lawyer who represents Shafi in the Supreme Court. “The result will be important for all women in this country.”

Pakistan has a separate law designed to protect women from harassment outside the workplace, but it requires women to report incidents to the police, which they are often reluctant to do.

Zafar, who denies having touched Mrs. Shafi, you have not been charged with any crime. He says her accusations have damaged her career. “When I prove my case, the damage will be irreparable,” he said. “It already is, in many ways.”

In many ways, Pakistan is one of the most difficult places in the world to be a woman. Women face high rates of domestic and sexual violence, economic inequality and forced marriage, according to a report published in 2019 by the Pakistan Human Rights Commission, an independent defense organization.

A 2020 index from the World Economic Forum, tracking gender disparities in areas such as economic opportunities, educational achievement, health and political empowerment, ranked Pakistan 151st out of 153 nations. A 2014 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the Pakistani activist for the education of girls Malala Yousafzai, but girls still make up the majority of children in the country who do not go to school.

There have been very few #MeToo charges in Pakistan, a deeply conservative society. A march in the capital, Islamabad, on 8 March for International Women’s Day was held by police circles, after participants were attacked last year by men who threw stones outraged at his slogan: “My body, my choice” . Protesters were accused in an online campaign this year of blasphemy, based on the misinterpretation of a banner, a dangerous and often lethal charge to be carried out in Pakistan.

Government officials say they are making progress on women’s rights, although they recognize that much remains to be done. In December, the government instituted a new rape law – which needs to be passed by Parliament to become permanent – with the aim of speeding up convictions and toughening sentences. A law passed last year strengthened women’s property rights. The government claims that a program to supplement the monthly income of the poorest families helps women.

In January, the upper court in the province of Punjab banned the use of virginity tests in cases of rape there. The results of these tests were often used by the defense against the accuser, either as evidence against the allegation of rape if the woman was considered a virgin or as evidence that she was likely to consent if she was found to be sexually active. The provincial court judge said the tests have no scientific basis and cast unfair suspicions on the victims.

Shafi’s claims shook Pakistan’s small but vibrant pop music industry and elite social circles when they emerged. In a tweet in April 2018, the day before working alongside Zafar as a judge on a musical talent show, she claimed that Zafar had touched her inappropriately.

“If it can happen to someone like me, a well-known artist, then it can happen to any young person and it worries me seriously,” tweeted Shafi.

Shafi says that Zafar has groped her more than once, but her sexual harassment case centers on a meeting in December 2017 in a recording studio at her home, where they were rehearsing for a show. She says he touched her during the session.

Zafar denies having touched Ms. Shafi and noted that the two performed together at the concert.

After Ms. Shafi’s accusation, other people performed on social media with their own reports of alleged sexual harassment by Zafar.

Zafar, who denies having behaved inappropriately with any of the accusers, says he was removed as a judge on the program following Shafi’s accusation and that he has stopped receiving sponsorships from multinational companies. He said he made a criminal complaint to prevent what he called an online smear campaign, which he said made him the poster boy for the #MeToo movement in Pakistan.

He also filed a civil defamation suit, seeking damages of more than $ 6 million, against Ms. Shafi.

Ms. Shafi first took her complaint to the provincial ombudsperson and then to the provincial governor, following the process established by the workplace harassment law. Both decided that the law did not cover her case.

She then went to the higher court in her home province of Punjab, which dismissed Ms. Shafi’s case against Zafar without examining the allegations, saying that workplace harassment laws did not apply because Ms. Shafi was just working in a short term. term contract and for an event management company, not for Mr. Zafar. The court said that if Shafi were considered an employee in this case, men could stop hiring women under these contracts.

“It would have such an unpleasant effect that perhaps no person (male) could enter into a service contract for fear of being prosecuted under the law,” said the court’s statement, specifying the men in parentheses.

Prosecutors filed a criminal defamation charge against Ms. Shafi under new laws that restrict expression on the Internet, which were also used by authorities to prosecute journalists and human rights activists. The authorities also accused eight other people who made accusations against Zafar on social media. Ms. Shafi was the only one who filed a formal complaint under the workplace harassment law.

Since the charges were brought, one of Zafar’s accusers withdrew his accusation and apologized. Subsequently, he asked prosecutors to withdraw her from the case, which they did. The woman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Shafi’s lawyers say they plan to challenge the use of criminal defamation law in the provincial court of Punjab. They say that using it to prosecute Ms. Shafi will discourage others from making allegations of sexual misconduct.

“It is a manipulated system,” said Shafi. “What woman has justice in a case of this nature and at what cost?”

Although Zafar says the accusations affected his career, he continued to receive applause from the country’s top politicians. This month, he will receive the Pride of Performance award from the President of Pakistan, the country’s highest award for achievement in the arts. Last year, Prime Minister Imran Khan appointed him a brand ambassador for the university he founded in his constituency before taking office.

“I would just like to emphasize that all societies in the world hold art and artists in high esteem and see them as good role models, as does Pakistani society,” said Shibli Faraz, the government’s information minister. He declined to comment on the lawsuits.

Ms. Shafi, who is currently in Canada, will seek permission from the court to give evidence through a video link. However, as she returned to Pakistan to work, the criminal case poses a risk of imprisonment, said Saqib Jillani, her lawyer.

“Who is going to perform in the future, if powerful men can do that to those who speak?” said Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy, a Pakistani documentary filmmaker who won two Oscars, for her films about women suffering acid attacks and honor killings in Pakistan.

Write to Saeed Shah at [email protected]