Istehkam-i-Pakistan Party (IPP) Central Secretary Information Dr. Firdous Ashiq Awan has termed allegations of mistreating her domestic staff as “baseless”, reported the 24NewsHD TV channel.
Awan’s rebuttal comes a day after a video was widely shared on social media in which she was seen engaged in a heated argument.
A video, showing furious Awan yelling at a woman and a man, seemingly the house helpers, during a quarrel in a house's living room, has been making rounds on social media.
https://twitter.com/humnewspakistan/status/1687902210234179584
The former federal minister, who is now the spokesperson of the Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party, was heard saying in the clip that she "has slapped" the woman.
A man, who is not seen in the video, is heard saying “You slapped in our presence”. In response, Awan says, “I slapped because they lied.”
However, Awan rejected the claims about the video, saying she "neither tortured nor mistreated anyone".
The minister claimed that it is an old video that involved a matter of "theft" instead of "abuse".
"It has nothing to do with reality,” she added.
Contrary to her claims, the IPP leader was also seen verbally abusing in Punjabi, threatening to call the police and demanding a payment of Rs70,000.
Subsequently, the media reported that she had allegedly mistreated her domestic staff.
Denying the reports, Awan alleged that the people she was seen arguing with within the video were a “criminal group of three, who work as domestic servants and escaped after committing thefts”.
She claimed the group was caught red-handed by her, and she had filed a complaint against them with police in Islamabad.
In June 2021, she made headlines as a clip showed her getting into a physical altercation with PPP’s Qadir Khan Mandokhail and hurling threats and abuses at him.
She was a special assistant to the Punjab Chief when the incident occurred.
Qadir Khan Mandokhail approached the police to register a case against Firdouse Ashiq Awan.
He also moved the court to get the case registered as according to him, the police did not heed his complaint.