Details: A YouTuber named Syed Ali Haider, who has around 1.23 million subscribers, posted a video on his channel where he dismissed foreign blogger’s rape case and said it was just a ‘drama.’ Propergaanda first came to know about him when Arbela Arpi reached out to us with a bunch of screenshots; they highlighted victim-blaming comments and dismissal of the sensitive case. One of the commentators named Haider’s channel as he told another Facebook user, “Syed Ali Haider ka vlog dekho, sab kuch bata diya hai usne.”
Haider’s video: Stating poorly-researched facts about the case and passing insensitive remarks, Haider says police found ‘no medical evidence’ of sexual violence. In her interview with Vice, Arpi said that she tried to register a police report in Lahore and get a medical examination but officials refused. They told her to go back to Dera Ghazi Khan, “By the time she arrived back, it had been 36 hours since the rape,” reported Vice. She also shared how she was subjected to the two-finger test, which was deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court last year, “Even though she had bruises on her body, the medical practitioner didn’t mention them in the medico-legal report. The DNA test came out on July 28, confirming the rape 11 days after it happened.” No love affair: Reading from a report, not visible to the screen, Haider made a baseless claim of an affair between Arbela and Muzammil Sipra, the man who raped and blackmailed her. In reality, Arbela met Sirpa online on Coachsurfing, an app where travellers across the world connect. According to the 21 year-old, Sirpa told her that he has high connections, including intelligence, and he can get access to restricted locations as well. Restricted area: Arpi claimed that she was misled into thinking that she had permission to stay in Dera Ghazi Khan, an area which doesn’t allow tourists. This was again twisted by Haider as he questioned in the video why Arbela stayed in a region where she wasn’t welcomed. What you need to know: On July 17, Arpi was intimidated and gang-raped by Muzammil Sipra and Azaan Khosa, whom she befriended from her previous trips. One of the men allegedly recorded the assault and threatened to post it online. It was on July 19 that the Border Military Police registered a rape case on Arpi’s complaint.