Pakistan cricketer Yasir Shah has been named in a case concerning the alleged rape of a 14-year-old girl, Dawn reported.
According to the report, the FIR was registered on 19 Dec on the complaint of a woman at Islamabad’s Shalimar police station.
The case was registered against Yasir and, according to the complainant, the cricketer’s friend, Farhan, under sections 292-B and 292-C (child pornography) as well as 376 (punishment for rape) of the Pakistan Penal Code.
In the FIR, the woman said she took her 14-year-old niece, who is a matric student, to a gathering in Lahore which was hosted by Yasir Shah, who she said was her acquaintance. She said that two to three months after returning, her niece seemed “unwell and disturbed”.
Farhan also used to make the girl talk to Yasir on WhatsApp, she said.
“My niece told me that on 14 August, when she was returning from tuition, Farhan made her get into a taxi and took her to a flat in F-11,” the aunt said.
At the flat, Farhan sexually assaulted her at gunpoint and also made a video, according to the FIR. He told her that if she told anyone about what had happened, he would make the video go viral and kill her, the complainant said, adding that Farhan also got Yasir to threaten the teenager.
“Yasir said that he was an international and famous player and threatened her with legal action,” the woman said.
The aunt said that the girl later told her that Farhan blackmailed her once again, took her to a flat above a café in E-11 where he raped her a second time.
“When I heard about this, I called Yasir on WhatsApp and told him everything on September 10 or 11 at which point he was in the West Indies. Making fun [of the situation], he said that my niece was beautiful and he liked minor girls,” she said, adding that the cricketer also proposed getting the teenager married off to Farhan.
“I swore at him and he [Yasir] threatened me with dire consequences, stating that he was friends with high ranking police and army officials. He threatened to implicate me in a case and to kill me,” the complainant said.
“When I threatened to go to the police, Yasir said let bygones be bygones and said he would buy the girl a flat and bear her expenses till she turned 18 if I got her married to Farhan,” she added.
The complainant alleged that Yasir continued to threaten her through Farhan, adding that there were audio recordings of this.
“A few days ago, Yasir asked me to meet Farhan at a café in F-6. Farhan once again threatened me with dire consequences,” the complainant said.
“Now Yasir is asking for a meeting on Dec 22 at his flat in Islamabad. He said that if my niece could please him, all matters would be settled, otherwise do what you will,” she said.
The complainant alleged that Farhan and Yasir connive to trap minor girls at their ‘shisha’ centre, rape them and blackmail them using videos of the incident. The aunt alleged that she, her niece and members of her family were facing death threats from the two and urged officials to take action against them.
Separately, Islamabad police said that the victim had undergone a medical examination. “The investigation will move forward in light of the circumstances and the results of the medical exam,” the statement said, adding that the case will be probed on merit.
“Indiscriminate legal action will be ensured if evidence of rape comes to light,” police said.
Meanwhile, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) also took note of the incident. Without naming Yasir, the PCB said that it had noted the allegations levelled against one of the board’s “centrally contracted players”.
The PCB said that it was “presently gathering information at its end and will only offer a comment when in possession of complete facts”.
