American blogger accuses leaders in Pak of rape, assault

POLITICIANS DENY CHARGES

American blogger who has lived in Pakistan for more than 10 years and is known for her pro-army stance has accused a former interior minister of raping her and a former prime minister and health minister of harassing her.

All three politicians have denied the charges, and in two instances, have filed a complaint with the country’s law enforcement agencies to investigate the matter further.

The blogger posted a live Facebook video on Friday in which she named former interior minister Rahman Malik, currently a member of the Senate or the upper house of parliament, of sexually assaulting her. She also accused former PM Yousaf Raza Gilani and former health minister Makhdoom Shahabuddin of harassing her. All three politicians belong to the opposition Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).

This Facebook video was the latest in a series of exchanges between her and PPP leadership, which has been incensed by the barrage of accusations flung their way by the American.

She has accused PPP leaders of links with Gulf-based businessmen and alleged they were involved in a number of scams all without any evidence.

So far the Pakistan Tehrik-einsaf (PTI) government led by

Prime Minister Imran Khan, which is perceived as being close to the army, has taken no action despite a number of complaints filed against the woman with the cybercrime wing of the Federal Investigation Agency.

In her latest accusation, the woman said her “ordeal” took place at Malik’s official residence in the ministers’ enclave in Islamabad in 2011 around the time “when the Osama Bin Laden incident happened”.

“I thought it was a meeting about my visa but I was given flowers [and] a drugged drink,” she claimed, adding she had “kept quiet” about the incident because “who in the [ruling government] would help me against the [accused minister]?”

The woman said she also informed the US embassy in 2011 about the incident, adding that “owing to fluid and complex PAK-US relations, the response was less than adequate”.

In a tweet, exiled political commentator Aisha Siddiqa said the Pakistani establishment may be wanting to put pressure on the PPP leadership ahead of moves to roll back the 18th amendment to the Constitution. Many commentators and experts in Pakistan also believe the woman – who has never shied away from flaunting her connections to the military and often takes up nationalistic causes in her posts – could be acting at the behest of the security establishment.