Cynthia Richie's application for registration of case against Rehman Malik rejected

 

A local court in Islamabad has rejected a petition filed by US blogger Cynthia Richie seeking a rape case against Senator Rehman Malik after a police report dismissed the complaint as baseless.

According to the Dawn newspaper, the police report stated that Cynthia Richie had not provided evidence to substantiate her allegations of rape in 2011 nor did she have any material on record that showed she had been harassed.

Additional District and Sessions Judge Nasir Javed Rana heard the American blogger's application for registration.

His lawyer Imran Feroze Malik maintained that the police had refused to register an FIR on the complaint of his client.

In a June 17 petition to the Secretariat Police, they accused Rehman Malik of raping her at her residence in 2011.

He also said in his petition that the former home minister, with the help of former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, had given the responsibility to the media cell of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) to intimidate and harass the American blogger on social media.

At his request, the court directed the police to submit a report on the matter.

In response, the police submitted a report to the court stating that Cynthia Richie had not lodged a complaint with the Secretariat Police in 2011 regarding her rape.

Police also said that no medical report or evidence was presented with the application to show why they were exploited.

In the absence of concrete evidence in the report, Cynthia Richie's position was described as dubious and insufficient to register an FIR.