The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) cybercrime wing has charged 11 individuals, including journalists and vloggers, with allegedly defaming actress and stage performer Nargis, whose real name is Ghazala Idrees, through social media posts. The FIA said Nargis provided evidence during the inquiry that corroborated her allegations. The actress called for “strict action against the culprits.”
The accused — Salman Qureshi, Jawad Shah, Sheraz Nisar, Zunaira Maham, Nigar Chaudhry, Abida Usmani, Mahreen Sibtain, Bilal Zafar, Atif Malik, Shakeel Zahid, and Maryam Ali Hussain — were booked under sections 11, 20, 21(d), and 24 of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) and sections 500 and 109 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).
Nargis filed a complaint alleging the individuals orchestrated a campaign to damage her reputation.
The FIR stated: “They have aired interviews and published posts that include derogatory remarks, suggesting baseless assertions that aim to harm Nargis’ image. They used sexually explicit language against her causing sadistic and masochistic abuse. In online interviews, these individuals have also falsely accused her of drug use. These interviews are clearly designed to humiliate and harm her image.”
The Lahore Press Club criticized the charges against journalists. The club demanded the immediate withdrawal of the FIR and warned of protests outside the FIA cybercrime wing if it didn’t stop “targetting the working journalists on different pretexts.”
Last month, Nargis filed an FIR claiming that her husband, Inspector Majid Bashir, assaulted her in her home in Lahore’s Defence Housing Authority (DHA). She alleged that Majid wanted her to transfer her property to his name and accommodate the former wife of a prominent TV host in her house without her consent.
