Imran Khan announces rallies to protest "sexual abuse" on close aide Gill

Islamabad [Pakistan], August 19 (ANI): Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday announced rallies in support of close aide Shahbaz Gill, who he alleged was the victim of physical torture that included sexual abuse, media reports said.
"If a political worker [like Shahbaz Gill] can be subjected to such torture, it could happen to anyone," the PTI cheif told reporters outside Islamabad's Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), reported Dawn.
Officials on condition of anonymity said that PTI's legal counsel Faisal Chaudhry spoke to the police team who asked the party representative to seek permission from a court to meet Gill.
Gill was arrested on charges of colluding with a private TV news channel in carrying out anti-state propaganda. Notably, Pakistan's regulatory watchdog PEMRA has alleged that the ARY News channel was airing "false, hateful and seditious" content based on "absolute disinformation with a clear and present threat to national security by instigating rebellion within the armed forces."
Imran Khan, while sharing a video on his social media handle, claimed that his close aid Shahbaz Gill who was arrested on sedition charges was tortured mentally and physically including being subjected to sexual abuse.
This comes as Gill, who was arrested in a sedition case, was presented in Islamabad court after being deemed "fit" by a medical board. Amid strict security arrangements, the police escorted Gill to court in a wheelchair.
In the early hours of Friday, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Shahbaz Gill arrived in the Islamabad district and sessions court from the Pakistan Institute of Medical Science (PIMS).
An Islamabad court suspended physical remand of PTI leader Shahbaz Gill until Monday after reserving its verdict on a police plea for his eight-day physical remand in a case under sedition charges, ARY NEWS reported.
The Islamabad district and sessions court directed capital police to shift Gill to PIMS again for another medical examination.
Meanwhile, an earlier medical report by the PIMS Hospital declared that Shahbaz Gill is absolutely healthy however, the session judge Raja Farrukh Ali wondered if Gill was in a healthy condition then why he was brought in an ambulance.
Sources said doctors of the PIMS hospital released Gill's medical report late Thursday. The medical board issued the report after conducting ten different tests, including the coronavirus test. All his tests are clear, according to the report.
Besides, six different X-rays were also carried out. The report says the PTI leader is in good physical health and no signs of torture were found on his body. (ANI)