Chief Minister of Punjab Maryam Nawaz on Tuesday called for a tit-for-tat response to incidents of assault, saying victims should respond to their attackers in the same manner as she talked about recent cases of violence in the province.
Speaking at an Honhaar scholarship and laptop distribution ceremony in Mandi Bahauddin, Maryam maintained that political connections will not protect offenders from action, even if they belonged to her own party.
“Governing through fear is not governance; keep one principle and remain consistent,” she said, stressing the need for consistency in governance.
The chief minister also spoke about a case in Multan where a man ran over an orphaned teenager, saying the incident continued to haunt her.
She also brought up two other incidents involving violence against members of the public: an attack on a woman riding a scooter in Lahore and the assault of a petrol pump worker in Jubilee Town.
In the Lahore case, footage showed a man moving ahead of a woman riding a scooter on a busy road before blocking her path with his motorcycle and assaulting her.
Police tracked down and arrested the suspect with the help of footage and data from dozens of cameras operated by the Punjab Safe Cities Authority (PSCA). A Lahore court later directed authorities to release him if he was not wanted in another case.
The other incident took place at a petrol station in Jubilee Town, where a customer allegedly attacked a salesman after being told not to smoke on the premises.
Reports stated that the man had arrived to get fuel and then stepped out of his vehicle to beat the employee before leaving the scene.
Maryam said her government stood with the “oppressed” and added that she was not worried about any case that might be registered against her in the future.
