TikToker Rajab Butt | Pakistan

LAHORE: A sessions court on Tuesday summoned TikToker Rajab Butt and four other suspects to frame charges against them in a case of alleged sexual assault of a social media influencer. Additional District and Sessions Judge Zafaryab heard a private complaint filed by the social media influencer against Butt and four others and directed all five suspects to appear before the court on August 18 for indictment. The social media influencer had filed the private complaint in 2025, alleging that she was subjected to sexual assault and subsequent blackmailing by the suspects. She claimed to have evidence for the allegations, including WhatsApp conversations, a medical report and her statement recorded under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. The suspects, who rejected the charges against them, had secured pre-arrest bail from a sessions court. Last month, Nawab Town police registered a case against Butt and his accomplices for allegedly attacking some women and opening fire during an altercation at a caf...

LAHORE: The Punjab Bar Council (PbBC) on Thursday suspended the practising licence of Advocate Mian Ali Ashfaq for representing TikToker Rajab Butt before a Karachi court despite a strike called by the local bar. The strike had been called in protest against the alleged victimisation of the Karachi Bar Association’s former librarian, Naseer Muhammad Kalhoro. During the strike, judicial proceedings were strictly prohibited within the city courts’ premises. According to an order issued by PbBC Executive Committee’s Chairman Zabiullah Nagra, the action was taken after receiving a letter from the president and general secretary of the Karachi Bar Association. The letter drew the council’s attention to a “video circulating on social media in which Advocate Ashfaq was seen appearing before the Karachi City Courts while representing TikToker Rajab Butt during an ongoing lawyers’ strike,” said Nagra. “It further observed that the advocate appeared before the courts despite the strike, allegedly accompanied by private...