Pakistan, Oct. 25 -- A magistrate in Lahore granted bail on Saturday to a man accused of assaulting a young woman riding a scooter, barely a day after police had arrested him following public outrage over CCTV footage of the incident. The accused was released against surety bonds of Rs100,000, prompting Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz to express disappointment. According to police report, the woman was intercepted, pulled by her hair and repeatedly slapped, suffering facial injuries, including a fractured nasal bone. The footage also showed several passersby watching the assault without apparently coming to her assistance.

The incident makes particularly disturbing reading in a province whose government has made women's mobility and safety a...