PPP senior leader Senator Rehman Malik has vehemently denied the rape allegation against him by US blogger in Pakistan Cythnia Ritchie, calling it ‘baseless, shameful, and inappropriate’.
In a video broadcast live on Facebook a day ago, Ritchie alleged that one of the party's senior members had raped her while two others had "manhandled" her at a separate occasion.
The PPP leader’s spokesman, in a statement, said that the purpose behind the US blogger’s allegation was to damage the reputation of Rehman Malik.
“The US woman made the inappropriate allegations against Rehman Malik upon the instigation of a certain individual or a group,” said the spokesman on behalf of the former interior minister.
Malik always raised voice against the Indian atrocities in occupied Kashmir and against India’s mistreatment of its own minority Muslims.
The spokesman added that Malik always spoke up in favour of women rights.
The allegations against Rehman Malik came at a time when he took notice of the accusations against late Benazir Bhutto as the chairman of Senate standing committee on interior, added the spokesman.
Responding to the allegation against him, former premier Yousaf Raza Gilani asked: "Can a prime minister ever commit such an act at the Aiwan-e-Sadr?"
"What was the lady levelling such accusations doing at the Aiwan-e-Sadr?" he continued, adding: "Who gave her the right to accuse politicians like this?"
He said responding to such statements would be "contemptuous".
He noted that Ritchie had recently levelled several accusations at Benazir Bhutto and "no one can tolerate such accusations".
"I am not worried about what was said about me. I am more concerned about the baseless accusations levelled at Shaheed Benazir."
"Ali Haider Gilani and Ali Qasim have approached the court in this regard," he said.