Cynthia Ritchie moves court to file FIR against Rehman Malik
The Islamabad High Court has issued notices on American blogger Cynthia Dawn Ritchie’s request to file a case against former interior minister Rehman Malik.
Ritchie, who identifies herself as a media director and producer, has accused Malik of raping her and Makhdoom Shahabuddin of manhandling her in 2011. The accusation has been denied by the PPP leaders.
The court has summoned replies from Malik, as well as the Cantonment SPO, and SHO.
Read more: Who is Cynthia Dawn Ritchie?
Lawyer Imran Feroze, who is representing Ritchie in the case, said that a heinous crime has been committed, yet his client is not being allowed to file a case against the perpetrator.
Chief Justice Athar Minallah asked the lawyer about the instructions issued by the Supreme Court issued in the case and asked him to submit a copy of the court ruling at the next hearing.
The case has been adjourned till October 23.
Rape accusations
“In 2011, I was raped by the former interior minister Rehman Malik. That’s right. I’ll say it again. I was raped by then interior minister Rehman Malik,” Ritchie said in a Facebook Live session on June 6.
“I was physically manhandled by [former] federal health minister Makhdoom Shahabuddin and PM Yousaf Gilani while he was staying at President House.”
Later, she wrote in a post that the “incident” occurred at the “IM’s house in ministers’ enclave in 2011” around the time of Osama Bin Laden’s assassination. “I thought it was a meeting about my visa but I was given flowers/ a drugged drink. I kept quiet.” She claimed that her family was recently attacked and she is “ready to face any accuser” now.
On May 29, multiple PPP workers had filed complaints against Ritchie. A letter was written to the FIA’s Islamabad office by PPP District President Advocate Shakeel Abbasi, urging the agency to take action against Ritchie. The letter, dated May 28, 2020, called the blogger’s remarks “extremely derogatory and slanderous”.
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