After threatening the medical staff in Peshawar’s major government hospitals, women and medical reps in the city have also been threatened against wearing ‘objectionable’ dress. For medical reps, threatening letters have warned against wearing pant-coat while some women, seen shopping in Saddar Bazar, have been warned to ‘correct’ their dresses.

In a news post, appearing in the famous Urdu daily Mashriq, a number of representatives of pharmaceutical companies (medical reps), staged a protest in front of the Peshawar Press Club against the torture and threats inflicted on them by unidentified terrorists. One of the representatives was recently tortured physically by some fanatics, on the pretext of wearing pant-coat (the typical nifty style of dress characterizing most medical reps). In addition, they have been receiving letters from unnamed people, threatening them to give up their western dress along with other directives including quitting jobs. The protesters urged upon the government to provide them protection against this kind of persecution as they could not leave their jobs due to the coercion by fanatics.

In another news piece, in the same edition, women shoppers in Peshawar Saddar’s main market were seen threatened by a group of people who warned them to correct their objectionable dresses or else bear the consequences. This observation was reported on Saturday evening, about two hours before a bomb blast took place near the same spot where the women shoppers were threatened. The incident has filled the air of the city with fear, grief, and a growing sense of helplessness.