Imran Khan’s Sisters Demand Probe into ‘Brutal’ Police Assault

Imran Khan’s sisters demand probe into ‘brutal’ police assault on them outside Pakistan’s Adiala Jail

“At the age of 71, I was seized by my hair, thrown violently to the ground, and dragged across the road, sustaining visible injuries,” one of the sisters wrote in a letter to the police chief in Pakistan’s Punjab.

Pakistan’s jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s three sisters have demanded an impartial probe into the “brutal” police assault on them and supporters of their brother outside the Adiala Jail last week.

Khan’s sisters Noreen Niazi, Aleema Khan and Dr. Uzma Khan had camped outside Adiala Jail along with other Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) members after being denied a meeting with him for a month. They were sitting outside the jail when police personnel pounced on them and brutally assaulted them for what the party said was “their crime for seeking a meeting with Imran Khan”.

In a letter to Pakistan’s Punjab police chief Usman Anwar, Khan’s sisters said the violence was “brutal and orchestrated and carried out by policemen without provocation.”

“We peacefully protested over concerns for his health condition. We neither blocked roads nor obstructed public movement, nor engaged in any unlawful conduct. Yet, without warning or provocation, the streetlights in the area were abruptly switched off, deliberately casting the scene into darkness. What followed was a brutal and orchestrated assault by Punjab police personnel,” Noreen Niazi said.

“At the age of 71, I was seized by my hair, thrown violently to the ground, and dragged across the road, sustaining visible injuries,” she lambasted.

She said that other women present outside the jail were slapped and dragged.

Khan’s sisters Noreen Niazi, Aleema Khan and Dr. Uzma Khan had camped outside Adiala Jail along with PTI members after being denied a meeting for a month. They were sitting outside when police pounced on them and assaulted them for “their crime of seeking a meeting with Imran Khan.”

In another letter to the Punjab police chief, they again stated that the violence was “brutal and orchestrated.”

“We peacefully protested over concerns for his health. We neither blocked roads nor obstructed public movement, nor engaged in unlawful conduct. Yet suddenly, the streetlights were switched off, casting the area into darkness before the police assault,” said Noreen Niazi.

“At the age of 71, I was seized by my hair, thrown to the ground, and dragged across the road, sustaining injuries,” she wrote.

She further stated that other women were slapped and dragged.

“Police’s conduct was part of a broader and troubling pattern of indiscriminate force used against peacefully protesting citizens over three years, reflecting a troubling impunity.

“Police’s conduct was wholly criminal, illegal, morally reprehensible, and in direct contradiction to the foundational duties of any law enforcement agency in a democratic society,” she said.

Khan’s sisters demanded that the IGP Punjab initiate proceedings against all police personnel involved in this assault. Khan, the patron in chief of PTI, has been in jail since August 2023 in multiple cases.

The government has placed an undeclared ban on meetings for over one month. Even Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi was not allowed to meet Khan despite seven attempts, which Khan claims were blocked by an army officer.