Monitoring Report

ISLAMABAD   –   A senior Pakistani diplomat and Consul General of Paki­stan in Spanish city of Barce­lona, Mirza Salman Baig, has been sacked from his position on sexual harassment charges levelled by a local staffer of the consulate.

The sources told that the name of the staff­er, lodged the complaint with Pa­kistani Ambassador Shujat Ra­thore in Madrid, who later re­ferred the matter to Foreign Office in Islamabad for further investiga­tion.

The For­eign Min­istry sent a two-mem­ber team to Barcelona and Madrid to probe the case. They complet­ed the investigation, on the basis of which the Foreign Of­fice removed the officer from his position and recalled him to the headquarters in Islam­abad, where he is facing disci­plinary proceedings.

According to more details, the victim who was hired local­ly also filed the complaint with the Spanish justice department which contacted the Pakistan Ambassador in Spain.

In her complaint, she alleged that the counsel general used to send her messages through social media, which, she claimed, were harassment. She in her complaint also claimed that the officer tried to make sexual assault on her in a hotel in Barcelona.

Mirza Salman Baig during the interrogation, however, de­nied the charges against him and disclosed that he wanted to sack her (the complainant), which was why she turned against him.