Imran Khan and His Wife Sentenced to 7 Years for Violating Marriage Law in Pakistan

Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, have been sentenced to seven years in prison for violating the country’s marriage law.

The couple, who married in 2018, were found guilty of not observing the mandatory waiting period for remarriage after divorce.

According to Islamic law, a woman must wait for three months, or iddah, before she can marry again after her husband dies or divorces her. This is to ensure that she is not pregnant from the previous marriage and to avoid any confusion about the paternity of the child.

However, the court ruled that Bibi had remarried Khan before the iddah was completed following her divorce from her first husband, Khawar Farid Maneka. Maneka had filed a complaint against Khan and Bibi, accusing them of fraud and adultery.

Judge Qudrat Ullah announced the verdict on Saturday, a day after the trial ended. Khan and Bibi were also fined 500,000 rupees ($1,800; £1 They have the right to appeal the decision.

This is Khan’s fourth conviction since he was ousted from power in 2022. He is already serving 34 years in prison for various corruption charges. His party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), has denounced the cases as politically motivated and aimed at preventing him from contesting the upcoming parliamentary elections on Feb. 8.

Khan, a former cricket star, became the prime minister in 2018 after a long struggle against the ruling party of Nawaz Sharif, who was also disqualified and jailed for corruption. Khan had vowed to end corruption and bring reforms in the country but faced criticism for his handling of the economy, the pandemic, and the relations with the military.

Bibi, a spiritual healer in her 40s, is Khan’s third wife. She is known for her mystical influence on Khan and her veil-covered appearance in public. Khan’s first marriage was with British socialite Jemima Goldsmith, with whom he has two sons. His second marriage was with journalist Reham Khan, which lasted less than a year.