US Blogger Cynthia Ritchie alleges Rehman Malik raped her in 2011

Cynthia Ritchie, an American blogger residing in Pakistan has made explosive allegations against senior leaders of the Opposition Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) after she alleged former interior minister Rehman Malik of raping her at his official residence back in 2011.

The US blogger took to Facebook Live on Friday claiming that the ex- interior minister raped her adding that two other senior PPP leaders  also physically manhandled her.

In a series of tweets by Ritchie, after going live with the claims that she had gone to the Interior Minister’s home in 2011, under the impression that she would meet him about her visa status. where, according to her, she was given “flowers/ a drugged drink”.

“I thought it was a meeting about my visa but I was given flowers [and] a drugged drink,” she claimed, adding that she had “kept quiet” about the incident because “who in the [ruling government] would help me against the [accused minister]?”

The blogger went on to say that she informed about the incident in the US embassy that year, adding that “owing to fluid and complex Pak-US relations, the response was less than adequate”.

In the video, a serious allegation was also leveled against two other PPP leaders — a federal minister and former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gillani, stating they had “physically manhandled” her when the latter “was staying at the President House”.

PPP response on the allegations against ex-PM

Meanwhile, former PM Yousuf Raza Gillani’S son Ali Haider Gilani responded to the allegations on Twitter: “Can a prime minister ever commit such an act at the Aiwan-e-Sadr?”

Haider further tweeted to ask who gave her the right to blame politicians ‘like this’; saying that even replying to such accusations would be “contemptuous”.

Read More : PPP Lodges FIA Complaint Against American Blogger Cynthia Ritchie

He said that Ritchie “should be ashamed of herself for saying such things,” adding that, “I am not worried about what was said about me. I am more concerned about the baseless accusations leveled at Shaheed Benazir”.

Former PM Gillani’s response

The former premier also responded to the allegations while speaking to a private news channel saying that “although he had met Ritchie a while back at a diplomat’s residence, as well as at different occasions, but in large gatherings.

“I am not aware of her background. She contacted my son Ali Qadir Gillani a while back. She told my son his father is an honourable man and he should inquire after me on her behalf.”

Note that, last month Ritchie’s controversial comments on slain PPP leader Benazir Bhutto sparked outrage among the PPP leaders leading to a complaint being filed against her with the Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) cybercrime wing.

The US blogger has since posted photos of other PPP leaders while also making scandalous claims about the party’s senior leadership.

After constantly giving a clue that she had her reasons for the allegations, she tweeted about the rape incident on Friday and then went live on Facebook in which she narrated the incident that took place at Rehman  Malik’s official residence in the Minister’s Enclave in 2011.