'Even Saddam Hussein showed more decency': Is Bushra Bibi 'gravely ill'? What Imran Khan's PTI said about his wife

Bushra Bibi, the wife of former Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan, is gravely ill, a leader of his party PTI has claimed. Bushra and Khan are being kept in 'increasingly harsh and degrading prison conditions,' Zulfiqar Ali Bukhari, a senior Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader and former minister, said on social media and in media interviews, accusing the Pakistani government of ‘psychological torment’ of the couple.

Bukhari claimed that Bushra has been ‘gravely ill’ for the week, and fainted due to the heatwave two weeks ago. He also alleged that her teenage daughter was made to wait for hours and denied visitations. “Bushra Bibi has been gravely unwell for the past week. Despite this, she has deliberately been given a broken air cooler that doesn’t work—amounting to deliberate psychological and physical torment,” he said in an X post.

“In a heartbreaking incident, Bushra Bibi’s 14-year-old daughter was made to stand outside the prison for five hours on her first attempt to visit her mother—only to be denied the right to meet her. What kind of society or dictatorship punishes a child like this?,” Bukhari asked.

“Even Saddam Hussein showed more decency' toward his opponents. What we are witnessing is a complete collapse of human rights and morality.”

'Bushra Bibi's ablution water was deliberately soiled'

Separately, Bukhari told the British paper The Independent that the water given to 50-year-old Bibi for ablutions purposely had "mud and sand and dirt inside of it.”

Authorities know how much it hurts Khan when they torture Bibi, Bukhari said. This, he claimed, "creates further emotional burden" on Khan, which the authorities feel ‘will help try to break him down or break her down’.

Why are Khan and Bibi in jail?

Khan, 72, and Bib were jailed in January in the al-Qadir Trust case. The case revolves around alleged bribes from real estate businessman Malik Riaz Hussain of the Bahria Town Ltd, in exchange for legalising laundered money amounting to some 50 billion Pakistani rupees, which the UK authorities had returned to Pakistan.

Khan has been in jail for nearly two years

Khan, already in jail on other pending cases, will be finishing two years behind bars this August. From terrorism to corruption, some 150 cases have been slapped against him, which he and his party describe as politically motivated.

"Imran Khan remains in isolation, denied the basic facilities he is legally entitled to. Once again, he was only permitted to meet a few carefully selected individuals, while most of his legal and political team was barred from entry. In the sweltering heat, cutting off electricity has become a cruel routine, " Bukhari claimed.
Last April, an aide of Bushra Bibi claimed that she had been poisoned in prison after "toilet cleaner liquid drops" were dropped in her meal.

Who is Bushra Bibi, the mystic, mysterious wife of Imran Khan?

Bushra Bibi, a spiritual healer, married Imran Khan in a secret ceremony in 2018. It was her second marriage, and Imran Khan's third. Hailing from a politically connected family in Punjab, Bushra was previously married for 30 years.

Initially, Bushra kept a low profile since her marriage with Khan, but was thrust into the limelight after the ouster and jailing of Khan.
She was released from prison in October after nine months for the so-called ‘toshakhana case’, involving the illegal sale of state gifts.