Chitral's District Police Officer (DPO) Mansoor Aman on Tuesday took notice of a video clip circulating on social media showing a man harassing a group of women by following them and nagging them to pose for pictures with him.
The two-minute-long clip, obtained by DawnNewsTV, was apparently shot in the Kalash Valley. It shows a group of women being followed and filmed by a man, who is apparently a tourist. The women can be seen covering their faces to avoid being captured on the camera.
Even though the women consistently tell the alleged harasser to leave and stop recording them, the man continues to follow them and nags them to pose for pictures. At one point, he tells an elderly woman — who turns away as he comes toward her — to face the camera, saying he will show her video to "his mother".
When a woman threatens to go to the police, the man laughs and claims he himself is a policeman.
According to DPO Aman, the video was uploaded on social media in 2016 but had remained unnoticed till recently.
No action had been taken since no one had reported the incident, the officer claimed.
Nonetheless, he assured that police will request assistance from the Federal Investigation Agency's Cyber Crimes Unit in order to ascertain the identity of the individual who originally uploaded the video.
He told DawnNewsTV that he has directed the relevant deputy superintendent of police and station house officer to look into the matter and ask the victims to come forward to record their statements.
He also appealed to the people, especially women and children, to report incidents of harassment to the police, adding that Chitral police have established facilitation centres to assist women and children facing harassment.
Meanwhile, the alleged harasser has released a video message apologising for the incident.
"I am thankful to social media friends for pointing out my mistakes," he said. "I apologise to those who were hurt due to the video clip."
He said he had traveled to Chitral's Kalash valley in 2015, where he had shot the video.
"I made the video for my own memories, not with any ill intent," he said.
