DM Monitoring
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan-based American blogger Cynthia Ritchie has accused Senator Rehman Malik of raping her in Islamabad in 2011. Senator Rehman Malik, through his lawyer, has sent a legal notice to Islamabad-based American blogger Cynthia Ritchie, it emerged on Sunday, asking for an “unqualified public apology” and withdrawal of rape allegations within 15 days.
Ritchie, who was at the centre of a controversy last week when she tweeted what the PPP described as “derogatory and slanderous remarks” about slain former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, has accused Malik of raping her in Islamabad in 2011.
In a live video on her Facebook page on Friday, she also accused former federal minister Makhdoom Shahabuddin and ex-prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani of “physically manhandling” her while Gilani was staying at the “President’s House” a charge denied by both the senior PPP leaders. The notice, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, acknowledges that Malik a former interior minister and senior PPP leader met Ritchie in his office in Ministry of Interior in the presence of Azam Swati’s daughter regarding a visa issue. “Any other meeting regarding your visa with [Malik] is out of the question,” it says.
Referring to Ritchie’s tweet regarding Benazir Bhutto, it says Malik “noticed all of a sudden you emerged on the social media scene and began a smearing campaign” against the late prime minister, adding that subsequent action was taken by PPP leaders. The notice also mentions a tweet by Ritchie on June 2 in which she had accused Malik of illegally issuing a Pakistan Origin Card to a foreigner, adding that the claim was “strongly rebutted” by the Nadra.
“Since you failed in your accusation, you started his character assassination by levelling bogus and disparaging allegations on June 5 through your Twitter and Facebook accounts,” the notice says of the rape allegation.
