The hearing of a cybercrime case was ongoing in a Karachi trial court.
The defense counsel asked the online harassment victim to define nude pictures, saying: “You mentioned in your complaint that your nude pictures were uploaded.”
The victim asked the judge whether it was a respectful question, on which the judge replied, “A lawyer can ask any question.” The woman explained that the picture had her face, but the rest of the body was of someone else wearing undergarment.
The counsel responded that this suggested that the victim had presented the facts wrongly as undergarment is also a part of clothing, proving that there weren’t any nude photos.
Men present in the chamber started smiling.
This cybercrime case was registered by the state of Pakistan in 2016 against Dr. Farhan Kamrani, a professor at the psychology department of the University of Karachi, for harassing a female colleague online by creating a fake Facebook profile with her name and sharing a link on the page of a private university, containing nude pictures and abusive comments.
It took the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) quite a short time to trace the suspect and raid his house and gather all the evidence, including mobiles, modems, and computers. But it took six years to declare Dr. Kamrani guilty. He has been handed down eight years’ imprisonment by the court.
District and sessions’ judge Khalid Hussain Shahani announced the decision in a 29-page verdict.
The court awarded eight-year imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs1 million on Dr. Kamrani for offenses punishable under Section 21 (offences against modesty of a natural person and minor) of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016, and Pakistan Penal Code’s (PPC) Section 419 (punishment for cheating by personation) and Section 500 (punishment for defamation).
While talking to the BBC, the prosecutor Sara Malkani expressed satisfaction with the court’s ruling. “Although it took a long time, we are satisfied, as the culprit got the punishment.”
The victim’s story
In a telephonic interview with BBC correspondent Humaira Kanwal, the female professor said she started her teaching career back in 2009 as a visiting faculty member in different private universities and institutions.
“Like other staff, it was essential for me to create an official Facebook page as students nowadays review online profiles while selecting a teacher for their course,” she said. “One day a private university asked whether I use my page. I said yes and immediately checked the page, but there was nothing to worry about.”
“However, the varsity didn’t offer me a new course, and that was quite strange for me,” she added.
“After some time, another institute where I was giving lectures suggested viewing my Facebook page,” she said. “Again, I open my page and noticed nothing new except a link with an inappropriate title containing my name. When I clicked the link, I saw pornographic pictures created by doctoring my photos and disrespectful comments.”
According to the professor, the institute fired her, and to deal with such an uncertain situation, she reported the page immediately, and the link got closed.
While recalling those days, the professor said that she went sleepless for three to four days, worrying about “how would I inform my husband about all this?”
She said that from the IT director to the university’s upper management and even vice-chancellor, everyone was asking questions: Who did this? What’s all this happening? Do you have any sources?
“I have never had a fight or resentment with anyone,” she said. “I’m a mother of four. I’m a visiting teacher. I was friendly with everyone there.”
“Those days were harrowing for me, and I was agonized by what students were thinking about me.”
Finally, she took the screenshots and filed the first complaint with the FIA in February 2016 and then in May and August.
How FIA proceeded?
FIA’s IT expert suggested not to report the page, as the longer the page runs, the easier it becomes to reach the culprit.
Then the FIA’s cybercrime wing launched an inquiry and requested Facebook authorities to share details of a fake ID.
The social networking company responded with the required information, including Faisal Kamrani’s name, residential and email addresses, and account and computer details.
According to the professor, she got a call from FIA after some time, inquiring, “Do you know any Faisal Kamrani?”
“They (FIA) said we have arrested him (Faisal Kamrani),” she stated. “They further informed me that this person is claiming that he works in a company, while his brother Farhan Kamrani works at Karachi University.”
The professor said that FIA asked her about Farhan, but she didn’t know him. “When FIA nabbed Farhan, he admitted to having set up fake ID in the name of the complainant, sharing her cropped pornographic photos and vulgar comments,” she said. “I don’t know why he created my fake profile as I never came across him in my life.”
‘Take the case back’
The female professor said that a new challenge was in front of her as she was receiving calls from KU professors demanding to take a case back.
“They (professors) said you’re reacting as he (Farhan Kamrani) has raped you,” she said.
“Then I was called to KU where the heads of psychology and my departments and senior professors gathered and demanded to take the case back.”
She said that it was a tough situation for me. “Court, university, society – everyone was behaving like I’m the accused.”
‘Plead not guilty’
Farhan Kamrani refused to plead guilty in court. The FIA prosecutor argued that the evidence collected from the scene was enough under Article 40 (Evidence Act). Besides, the accused admitted to having created fake IDs at the time of the arrest.
After the rejection of the first bail plea, Farhan Kamrani submitted another one, and this time he claimed that the female professor was forcing him to marry her.
“This accusation was a big addition to my embarrassment, but it cemented my decision to keep fighting the case,” she said. “I don’t have words to express how humiliated I was at that time, telling my husband how Farhan was lying.”
‘Police file and seizure memo were missing’
During the hearing, the petitioner found that the police file of the case was missing. After a thorough search, the concerned investigation officer blamed the court for not returning the file.
After this irresponsible behavior, the female professor sought help from retired Justice Majida and a human rights organization.
She also contacted the human rights commission and wrote letters to Pakistan Peoples Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and the Senate Functional Committee on Human Rights.
“I was so humiliated that I wanted to die, but there was a hope of proving all the accusations wrong and save my honor,” she said. “Apart from court’s humiliation, my job, kids, study, and home, everything was being severely affected due to this case.”
According to the professor, the last stage was to file a petition against FIA, “as we have no clue about the police file”.
The FIA told the high court that they are arranging the copies of the police file, but they don’t have a seizure memo.
“It was now 2019, and they were telling that police file and seizure memo are missing,” the complainant said.
After three years, the verdict was still pending. On the other hand, the defendant’s counsel argued that the statement taken from his client during the custody was not acceptable.
He also argued that the letter sent to Facebook and the internet service provider to share details was not presented before the court. “There are so many loopholes in the case,” the defendant’s counsel said.
However, the accused, Farhan Kamrani, got bail on the fourth plea but arrested from the courtroom after the verdict was announced and shifted to the central jail.
‘Nobody dares to do this with any woman’
The female said that she wasn’t expecting justice, but the decision came in her favor. “When the judge was reading the verdict, I wasn’t hearing a word,” she said. “My eyes were closed, and all I was doing is asking Allah to save my honor.”
“Judges changed, lawyers changed, but behaviors are still the same,” she said. “I don’t want to reveal my identity. I have gone through a long journey of humiliation to get justice. I’m still worried about my kids’ security.”
While praising her husband, she said, “May Allah blessed my husband for supporting me at every step.”
She revealed that her husband told her he didn’t have any doubt on her. “He said all I wanted is now nobody will dare to do such thing with any woman and any daughter.”
“I also stood still till the end because there are many mothers out there who can’t fight like this,” she said.
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