A recent court decision in Islamabad has sent a chilling message to women in Pakistan, as it sentenced the former prime minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi to seven years each in prison for adultery and fraud. The case was filed by Bushra’s ex-husband Khawar Maneka, who claimed that their marriage was illegal and un-Islamic, as it took place during Bushra’s iddat period – the time after divorce when a woman is not allowed to remarry.
The trial court, headed by Senior Civil Judge Qudratullah, found the couple guilty of the charges, and also imposed a fine of Rs 5,00,000 each on them. The court delivered its verdict on Saturday, after a 14-hour hearing inside the Adiala jail, where Imran Khan has been incarcerated since his ouster from power in 2023. Bushra Bibi, who was kept under house arrest at Banigala, was brought to the jail for the final hearing.
The court decision has sparked outrage and disbelief among lawyers, activists, and citizens, who see it as a travesty of justice and a violation of human rights. They argue that the court ignored the constitutional rights of women to privacy, dignity, and equality, and that it relied on baseless and sexist allegations and questions about Bushra’s menstrual cycle, fertility, and meetings with Imran before their marriage. They also warn that such a harsh and arbitrary verdict could set a dangerous precedent and encourage more persecution and abuse of women in the legal system.
Sabahat Rizvi, the secretary of the Lahore High Court Bar, told the BBC, “How unfair it is that a woman’s life and her menstrual cycles are being debated in court. Does a woman have no rights? If she remarries, she is declared corrupt.”
Rida Tahir, a Supreme Court judge, said that the Islamabad court’s decision was unconstitutional, as it contradicted the previous rulings of the Lahore High Court and the Supreme Court that upheld the right of every citizen to maintain their dignity. She cited the cases of Sadaf Aziz and Aatif Zareef, where the courts banned the invasive and humiliating two-finger test for rape survivors and recognized the right to life and privacy.
Lawyer Reema Omer wrote in a post on X that “from the statement given by Khawar Maneka, that his wife’s menstruation was normal, to the question asked by Judge Qudratullah, whether meeting alone between a non-mahram man and woman is permissible in Islam, this is a shameful decision and synonymous with trampling on justice and human rights.”
Lawyer Nighat Dad said in a post on X that this is not just about one woman, but a glimpse of the future of thousands of women who may have to face this because of this decision.