Lahore seminary incident: Forensic report confirms Mufti Aziz, student in video

• Forensic report says Lahore seminary video not edited.
• Police say analysis matched facial features of "persons of interest" seen in the videos.
• DNA test of accused came back negative as the crime was two to three years old and DNA analysis is time-barred.

LAHORE: The forensic report of a video showing a bearded man sexually abusing a boy has confirmed that the individuals who appeared in it were Mufti Aziz and a seminary student.

The report, seen by The News, concluded that “no editing features were found in the visual content” of the videos.

“After forensic facial analysis, it was confirmed that the facial features of the victim and the accused named Aziz-ur-Rehman matched the facial features of the persons of interest seen in the videos,” Lahore Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Investigations Shariq Jamal said Monday.

“No evidence of editing was found in the video clip according to the forensic analysis report,” he added.

However, the DNA test of the accused cameback negative as the crime happened two to three years ago and DNA analysis is time-barred.

Mufti Aziz had earlier pleaded innocence in his response after the video, in which he could be seen molesting his student, had gone viral. But after his arrest from Mianwali, he had confessed to his crime during police interrogation.

However, later on, he retracted his statement in court.

The survivor, in the FIR, had alleged that Aziz had banned him from examination for three years on allegations of appearing for another student in the exam. When the student begged for mercy, Mufti Aziz asked for sexual favours by promising to get him passing marks and lifting the ban on him.

However, Aziz did not fulfil his promises, the student said.

When he lodged complaints before various authorities, no one believed him, saying that Mufti Aziz was an old man. “I made the videos as evidence,” he asserted.

Mufti Aziz is currently in jail on judicial remand.