LHC chief justice Alia Neelum criticises Punjab police over TikTok culture amid unresolved missing women cases

Lahore High Court Chief Justice Aalia Neelum on Tuesday expressed strong displeasure over Punjab Police officers making and sharing TikTok

LAHORE: Lahore High Court Chief Justice Aalia Neelum on Tuesday expressed strong displeasure over Punjab Police officers making and sharing TikTok videos in uniform, questioning their professionalism while thousands of cases involving missing and abducted women remain unresolved across the province.

The remarks came during the hearing of a long-pending habeas corpus petition filed by Salma Bibi, seeking the recovery of her daughter, Muqaddas Bibi, who allegedly went missing several years ago.

Court Proceedings

During the hearing, DIG Crime and DIG Investigation Punjab appeared before the court. The DIG Investigation informed the court that he was leading a special team constituted to recover missing women.

Chief Justice Neelum criticised the police leadership for assigning the sensitive responsibility to an officer allegedly occupied with other activities, including making TikTok videos.

She questioned whether creating and uploading videos in police uniform was permitted under police service rules and observed that officers engaged in self-promotion on social media could not effectively perform their official duties.

The DIG Crime assured the court that police officers had been instructed not to make TikTok videos in uniform and that disciplinary action would be taken against those violating the directions.

The court subsequently directed the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Punjab to submit a written report clarifying whether such activities were permissible under the Police Service Rules, Police Order 2002 and relevant conduct regulations.

Muqaddas Bibi Case and Background

The petition has emerged as a significant case concerning missing women across Punjab. Salma Bibi, a resident of Kasur, approached the Lahore High Court in 2022, alleging that her daughter Muqaddas Bibi had been abducted approximately four years earlier. Despite the registration of an FIR, the police had allegedly failed to recover her.

The court has been using the case to examine Punjab Police’s overall performance in investigating abduction cases involving women.

Previous Hearings and Police Data

On June 2, 2026, Chief Justice Neelum directed Punjab Police to recover missing women across the province within 15 days. DIG Investigation Shoaib Khurram Janbaz reported that 3,252 cases had been registered between 2021 and April 2026. Of these, 1,405 women had been recovered, while 1,853 remained missing.

The DIG sought two months to complete the task, but the chief justice rejected the request, questioning why the department had failed to act despite having several years.

During another hearing in mid-2026, IGP Rao Abdul Karim presented five years of data showing 105,244 registered abduction cases involving women between 2021 and 2025. These included 70,773 cases under Section 365-B and 34,471 under Section 496-A.

However, the special missing persons registry recorded only 3,258 cases, with approximately 1,847 to 1,853 women still missing. The court expressed concern over the significant discrepancy, highlighting weaknesses in the police data management system.

On October 8, 2026, the chief justice raised concerns about more than 500 cases involving abducted girls who remained unrecovered for years. She also criticised the mindset within the police department towards victims.

Police Position and Court Directives

Police officials have maintained that nearly 80 per cent of recovered women had married of their own choice, leading to the dismissal of kidnapping charges in several cases. However, the court stressed that the circumstances of women who remain missing cannot be overlooked.

The court directed authorities to investigate officers’ performance, fix responsibility for failures, and avoid assigning poorly performing investigators to cases involving women and children. It also ordered regular appearances by the special recovery team and sought a compliance report on Muqaddas Bibi and other missing women.

The hearing was adjourned until next week.

The court’s criticism comes amid growing public concern over viral videos showing Punjab Police personnel, including senior officers and SHOs, dancing and lip-syncing in uniform, raising questions about discipline, accountability and professional conduct within the force.