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'Mentally tortured': Imran Khan's sister after meeting him in Adiala jail amid death rumours
Uzma Khanum visited the incarcerated former prime minister inside the prison while a large group of PTI supporters gathered outside the facility.
Amid mounting rumours about Imran Khan’s health and claims by his family seeking proof that he is alive, authorities at Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail on Tuesday allowed the former prime minister’s sister, Uzma Khanum, to meet him, Pakistani outlet The Dawn reported.
Uzma Khanum entered the prison while scores of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) supporters who had accompanied her gathered outside the facility.
The meeting took place as the PTI staged protests outside the Islamabad high court and Adiala Jail, alleging restrictions on Imran Khan’s visitation rights. The party has claimed that his family members and senior leaders had been denied access to him for several weeks.
PTI's US handle shared a purported video of Imran Khan's sister talking to the media after meeting her brother. Khanum can be heard saying, “Imran Khan’s health is perfectly fine. However, he said that they are subjecting him to ‘mental torture’, and that Asim Munir is responsible for all of this.”
According to Geo News, she added, “I will provide in-depth updates after consultations with my sisters [Aleema Khan and Noreen Khan]”
Over the past week, both Khan’s son and sister have publicly demanded evidence that the jailed PTI founder is alive, amid speculation regarding his condition during incarceration.
Rumours over Imran Khan’s death intensified after his sisters were reportedly denied permission to see him despite court orders allowing family access.
According to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister Sohail Afridi, as quoted by the Pakistani daily, no one has been allowed to meet the PTI founder or his wife, Bushra Bibi, since October 27.
Khan’s son, Kasim Khan, on Friday said the former prime minister has been held for 845 days and kept in solitary confinement for the past six weeks “in a death cell with zero transparency.” He added that his father’s sisters had been blocked from visiting him even with court-approved access. “There have been no phone calls, no meetings and no proof of life. Me and my brother have had no contact with our father,” he said.
Adiala Jail authorities have maintained that Imran Khan is in “good health.”
In a statement on Thursday, the Imran Khan's party said that his sister, Dr Uzma Khan, had been granted permission to meet him. “Although today the government allowed Dr Uzma to see her brother in jail, but let’s see whether the government honours its commitment,” the party said, news agency PTI reported.
Meanwhile, the Punjab government deployed the entire Rawalpindi police force along Adiala Road to prevent the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s planned protest.
Section 144, which bars gatherings of four or more people, has already been imposed in both Rawalpindi and Islamabad. Station house officers from eight police stations, along with senior officials, have been positioned outside Adiala Jail.
