When the video of four persons holding a couple at gunpoint, forcing them to strip and then beating them up went viral on social media in July of last year, the country reacted with outrage against the heinous offence. In the days following this event, it seemed like the victims might get justice and see some accountability against the culprits, as the police arrested the men visibly seen harassing the couple in the video.

The accused were sent to judicial remand after investigation and for a while, it seemed like this might be a rare instance of the culprits in a sexual crimes case actually seeing the punishment of their crimes.

Unfortunately, however, it seems that this idealistic hope was misplaced. The victims in the case on Tuesday retracted their statement against the accused including Usman, the main suspect. The couple, in their written affidavit told the trial court that they did not want to pursue the case against the main accused, and the female victim told the judge that she did not go to Adiala Jail and had not taken part in the identification parade, despite the victims having identified three of the suspects in an identification parade held at Adiala Jail in July.

The affidavit of the eyewitness holds serious weight in Pakistan’s courts; judging from precedent, it has become very difficult for the accused to be convicted. Eyewitness testimony holds greater weight in the court of law than forensic, video or documentary evidence, so this report will make it difficult to prove that it was indeed the accused who had committed this crime, despite their faces being clearly visible in the video, and other videos uploaded by the accused themselves alluding to the crime and flouting their freedom.

If a case with clear video evidence showing the crime will not prove guilt in law, then it is harrowing to think how the thousands of cases that do not have such strong evidence would fare. The justice system must make an example of this case to set new precedents in evidence law that need catching up with modern times. In a society where victims are so vulnerable to threats, blackmail and social taboos, the reliability of forensic evidence, videos and technology must be trusted to ensure that the accused do not use legal loopholes to escape punishment.