Three students won interim bail till January 30 in a Lahore district and sessions court on Saturday after an FIR was registered against them for allegedly beating a fellow schoolgirl at a private school in the city.

Additional District and Sessions Court judge Zafar Iqbal heard the petition seeking interim bail for Umaima, Jannat Malik, and Kainat – three of the four girls whose names were on the first information report (FIR) filed by the victim’s father.

Videos of the three girls beating their fellow student went viral on social media on Friday, with many users demanding strict action against them. The fourth accused was seen filming the episode.

Responding to the social media users’ complaints, the Lahore police tweeted that a case had been registered and soon all the suspects would be arrested. A copy of the FIR also went viral later.

The FIR said the girls beat up their fellow student after she refused to take drugs. However, the lawyer for the accused claimed that the police complaint was “contrary to the facts.”

“They [my clients] are not involved in any kind of violence,” said lawyer Mian Rab Nawaz and urged the court to approve the interim bail so that his clients can become part of the investigation and prove their innocence.

The court asked the three schoolgirls to submit worth Rs50,000 surety bonds after approving their bail plea. It has also sought a report from the police.

What is in FIR?

The FIR was registered under sections 337-A (punishment of shajjah), 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 379 (punishment for theft) of the Pakistan Penal Code at the Defence A Police Station.

Shajjah is the hurt caused in a way that does not render a body part dysfunctional. The definition in the Pakistan Penal Code reads, “Whoever causes, on the head or face of any person, any hurt which does not amount to itlaf-i-udw or itlaf-i-salahiyyat-i-udw, is said to cause shajjah.”

The victim Aliha Imran is a student of American International School located in BB Block of the Defence Housing Authority (DHA), said the report filed on her father Imran Younis’ complaint.

The incident occurred on January 16 when the victim was in the school’s canteen and the four girls Jannat Malik, Kainat Malik, Umaima, and Noor Rehman Ali planned to beat her.

It alleged that the incident happened against the backdrop of a video of Jannat, who “likes to take” drugs, being sent to her father by Aliha’s father. It accused Jannat of trying to involve the victim in taking such substances.

“Umaima, who is a boxer, grabbed my daughter and took her towards the canteen where the other three girls were shouting to catch Aliha,” it said and accused them of torturing his daughter. Amidst this, they apparently stole the gold chain on Aliha.

He added that different boys were making videos of the incident and uploading in on different social media platforms. The victim’s family has approached the Federal Investigation Agency to remove such content.

“My daughter was severely abused,” it said and demanded action against the suspects.

Social media reaction

Hashtags with the names of the school, city, and area were among the top trends on Twitter. Many internet users slammed the four girls and urged the authorities to arrest them.

One of the users described it as “most disgusting”.

Bullying is nothing new in Pakistan, said another user. He called for punishment in order to prevent further damage to society.

“I have said this before and I’ll say it again, WE ARE RAISING OUR KIDS WRONG. We are raising entitled, privileged bullies who think they can get away with anything and there will be no consequences because their daddy will bail them out,” said a user in a Twitter thread.