KARACHI: YouTuber Rajab Butt was physically assaulted at a sessions court in Karachi on Monday during the hearing of a case registered against him for allegedly hurting religious sentiments.

Butt appeared before the sessions court (Central) upon the expiry of his interim bail, which was granted to him on December 20. The hearing, however, was marred by violence and chaos as Butt was attacked.

Butt‘s counsel, Mian Ali Ashfaq, alleged in a post on social media platform X that his client had been attacked by “some lawyers” at Karachi City Courts’ premises during the hearing of a case.

He said the attack was carried out in his presence, in which Butt was injured.

“[They] continued to beat him despite being repeatedly asked to stop,” Ashfaq said, terming “such conduct by the lawyers unprofessional”.

He added, “Taking the law into their hands is weakening the reputation of lawyers in the country.”

Ashfaq further stated that if “lawyers will become a party [in cases] every other day and continue to attack private litigants on court premises, their respect will suffer an immense and continuous decline“.

“This is an unfortunate aspect that has no place in any educated society,” he said.

A video shared after the incident showed Butt, in a shirt torn from places, moving through a crowd surrounding him.

Another video showed Butt walking along with a group of lawyers, who were raising slogans “Karachi Bar Zindabad” (long live Karachi Bar). Among them was also Riaz Solangi, who is the complainant in the case registered against Butt for allegedly hurting religious sentiments.

In the video, Solangi is seen saying Butt had made a video in which he had used inappropriate words for lawyers. Another person in the group, who also appeared to be a lawyer from his attire, can be seen saying that “what has happened today, we did that over his words for lawyers and misbehaviour against them […] Anyone who says anything against lawyers will end up in the same condition”.

Tiktoker Nadeem Mubarak, also known as Nani Wala, was also present on the occasion and seen one of the videos.

Mubarak and Butt, who have been facing legal proceedings in multiple cases, had returned to Pakistan together on December 10 from London after the Islamabad High Court (IHC) granted 10-day protective bail to the social media influencers in response to a petition filed by their relatives.

The have been facing legal proceedings in multiple cases, and Butt’s interim bail in the case that was taken up by the sessions court today has now been extended till January 13.

The case

Solangi had lodged a complaint against Butt in January at the Hyderi Market police station, under Section 295-A (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) of the Pakistan Penal Code.

According to the first information report (FIR), the complainant said that in December 2024, he watched a viral video of the YouTuber in which he was allegedly performing prayer (namaz) while music was playing in the background.

It is pertinent to mention that the FIR was registered after a sessions court allowed the complainant’s application filed under Section 22-A, seeking directives for the Hyderi Market SHO to lodge a case against the YouTuber.

As the video went viral on social media, Butt posted subsequent videos on his official Facebook page in January in which he was seen sitting with scholars from different schools of thought.

In the three-part video, he had issued an apology, stating that if anyone’s feelings were hurt by his unintentional actions, he deeply regretted it.