Imran Khan’s health ‘fine’ but being subjected to ‘mental torture’: Sister

Islamabad/Lahore: Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan’s health is “perfectly fine” but he is being subjected to “mental torture in solitary confinement”, his sister Dr Uzma Khan said on Tuesday after meeting him at Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail.

The development comes amid rumours on social media about Khan’s health as his family was constantly being denied from meeting him in prison for more than a month. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) said in a statement after Uzma’s meeting with the 73-year-old former cricketer-turned-politician that Khan has been “put in solitary confinement and he is being subjected to mental torture”.

“Praise be to Allah! His health is perfectly fine. However, he was very angry and said that they are subjecting him to mental torture,” she said.

She also claimed that Khan said the authorities were “mentally torturing” him as he is kept in his cell for most part of the day and allowed to go out only for a brief time. She also quoted Khan as saying that he was not allowed to communicate with anybody. An unannounced ban was placed on meeting Khan, who has been in prison since August 2023 in multiple cases, for more than a month. Adiala Jail authorities, however, claimed that he is in “good health”.

The PTI in a statement earlier on Thursday said that one of the sisters of Khan, Dr Uzma Khan, was permitted to meet him after a large number of party supporters gathered outside Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail.

Meanwhile, the Punjab government deployed the entire Rawalpindi police force along Adiala Road to thwart the PTI protest. The government has already imposed Section 144 (ban on gathering of four or more people) in Rawalpindi and Islamabad.