Pakistan: 50 arrested for attending dance party in Islamabad hotel, booked for 'obscene acts'

Islamabad: Pakistani police have arrested 50 people from an hotel during raids here for attending a dance party and booked them for ‘obscene acts and songs’, according to a media report. [caption id=“attachment_3765907” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. AP[/caption] The police rounded up at least 34 men and 16 women from the hotel on Sunday and booked them for ‘obscene acts and songs’, and for violating the amplifier and the tobacco control laws, the Express Tribune reported. A large number of men and women were found dancing and playing music on loudspeakers while smoking. However, a magistrate later released all the suspects on bail. The hotel owner and manager was also booked for abetment. In May, a dance party in Lahore was brought to halt after religious clerics intervened. Sunni Tehrik Lahore president Maulana Mujahid Abdul Rasool reportedly threatened police, telling them to stop a party at Sozo Water Park. Subsequently, the police and district administration ordered organisers to pack up and leave the venue, even though the organisers had obtained the approval for the event. Pakistan is highly conservative country and mixed parties featuring music and dance are often disrupted by police or clerics.