Imran Khan Flags To Court Reports Of Abuse Of Women Workers Of His Party

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan has urged the country's top judiciary to take suo motu notice of the alleged abuse, including "reports of rape", of its female party workers and supporters who were arrested following the May 9 riots, Pakistan based The Express Tribune newspaper reported.

The Express Tribune is a daily English-language newspaper in Pakistan.

Imran Khan's allegations come hours after Pakistan Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah claimed in a press conference that intelligence agencies had intercepted a call revealing a plot to stage a fake encounter and rape incident by members of the PTI.

The minister claimed that among the plans revealed during the intercepted call was a plot to raid and open fire at a PTI worker's house, resulting in casualties that could be shown to the world as gross human rights violations. The second plan was to stage an act of rape, the recording of which would be shared with global media outlets to propagate the alleged abuse against PTI, according to The Express Tribune.

The PTI chief, however, said he was convinced of the reports of the kind of treatment being meted out to the party's women workers in jail.

Imran Khan while addressing PTI supporters from his Zaman Park residence in Lahore, said: "After [Rana Sanaullah's] press conference, I have no doubt. The PTI women workers, the way they were detained and thrown in jail, and the way they were being treated...we also heard [reports] of rape."

The PTI chief claimed that the interior minister's statements could only mean two things. "Either they are afraid that these women, when they are released, will tell the stories of what happened to them, and [the government is] preparing for this scenario. Or that they are scared they have done something they cannot manage, so they want to preemptively create a narrative that this was all a big conspiracy and PTI did this themselves".

Imran Khan stated that he is getting reports of abuse from various locations. However, he added that such reports did not mention Adiala Jail but the female workers were being kept in deplorable conditions and the judiciary must take notice of the situation, according to The Express Tribune.