Islamabad: A Pakistani court sentenced ex-prime minister Imran Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, to seven years’ imprisonment each for an un-Islamic and illegal marriage.
The trial was conducted by senior civil judge Qudratullah inside Rawlapindi’s Adiala jail, where the 71-year-old Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) founder has been jailed. Imran and Bibi were also each fined Rs 500,000 (Pakistani rupees). It was Imran’s third conviction this week and comes ahead of national elections on Thursday. Imran and his party have been barred from contesting it. The PTI has fielded candidates as independents on oath that they will rejoin the party after being elected.
Earlier this week, Imran was awarded a 10-year sentence in the cipher case linked to the alleged leaking of state secrets, and 14 years’ imprisonment in the Toshakhana (treasure house) case for illegally selling state gifts.
The unlawful marriage, or “iddat” case, was filed by Bushra’s previous husband, Khawar Maneka, in Nov last year, around the time when Imran’s other legal troubles began to mount. Ahead of filing the petition, Maneka was released on bail in a graft case.
According to him, Imran had married Bushra before she had completed the iddat period, a concept in Islam and Pakistani law that requires a woman to wait for three menstrual cycles, or three lunar months, whichever is longer, following a divorce or the death of her husband before remarrying.
Maneka termed their marriage “neither legal nor Islamic as it was solemnised without observing iddat period and both of them established illicit relations with each other”.
