Islamabad police have arrested Usman Mirza, the man identified as assaulting a couple in a video that went viral on social media yesterday.

In the video that surfaced on Tuesday, Mirza can be seen storming into a room with a few other men and proceeding to assault the young couple. First, he delivered a few violent blows to the young man’s face, hurling insults and threats. Then, Mirza removed the woman’s clothes, continuing his aggressive behaviour. The extent of Mirza’s sexual assault against the woman was unclear in the video.

Samaa Digital's reporter Roohan Ahmed said on Wednesday that two other men seen in the video have also been arrested in Islamabad.

Journalist Mansoor Ali Khan made a vlog about the situation in which he said the incident in question is a few months old and that Mirza was blackmailing the couple. He also named the other men in the video.

Regardless of when it was recorded, it surfaced on social media on July 6. Within hours of the video’s upload, there was outrage across social media. The hashtag #ArrestUsmanMirza was used to push for the arrest of the man identified in the video. Mirza owns a real-estate and automobile rental company called Auto Land, based in Islamabad. On his Facebook, there are multiple videos of him with large groups of people who are armed.

Mirza’s arrest was confirmed on social media by the Islamabad Police,

Another video of Mirza has surfaced as well. On May 27, he uploaded a video to his Facebook in which he says that he will be in jail for 15-20 days but should be released very soon.

It is not known whether that arrest is related to Tuesday’s assault. However, many on social media believe that there may be a connection.

People have reacted in many different ways, a lot of them are outraged that it took a social media campaign to ensure Mirza’s arrest.

Many have reflected on the events of the last few weeks, including issues regarding the Domestic Violence Bill 2021 and Imran Khan’s comments about women’s clothes.

A large number of people have demanded proper justice beyond symbolic arrests.

Most of all, countless women have expressed the fear and anger this incident has left them with.