This Pakistan-Based American Blogger Has Accused Three Senior Pakistani Politicians Of Rape And Assault. Details Are Awaited
In 2018, when the #MeToo movement started gaining momentum, it gave women everywhere a platform to stand on and raise their voices against all the injustice and anguish that they have faced. But as we all know, that movement moved two steps forward, one step back and then died a very quiet death. We say this because a lot of the accused were hired back or given work, while everyone pretended nothing wrong had happened at all.
How many women who shared their stories of horror with the world got the justice they deserved? We can probably count the number on our hands. And that’s all they want, right? Justice for all the pain that they have endured at the hands of men who think that their power outweighs a woman’s voice.
The reason that I am suddenly dredging all this up is that Cynthia Ritchie, a Pakistan-based American blogger has accused three prominent, very senior members of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) of rape and assault.
https://www.facebook.com/cynthiadritchie/videos/3012638535481275/
In a Facebook live, Cynthia has accused former interior minister Senator Rehman Malik of having raped her in Islamabad in 2011. She said, “In 2011, I was raped by the former interior minister Rehman Malik. That’s right, I’ll say it again. I was raped by the then interior minister Rehman Malik. She also accused former federal minister Makhdoom Shahabuddin and former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani of “physically manhandling” her while Gilani was staying at the “President’s House”.
In the live, Cynthia said that she would not be including a lot of the gory, graphic details since a lot of her viewers are underage but will gladly provide her story to neutral investigative journalists.
Also Read: Ekta Kapoor Is Getting Rape Threats From The Same People Who Objected To The Sex Scene In XXX2. And She’s Calling Them Out
#ZardarisFilthyPPP keeps threatening me. Why? Because they know that over the years I have been raped/assaulted by men in the highest ranks of PPP. They don't want the world to know.
I have decided to go live on facebook in approximately 30 minutes & continue to tell my story.
— Cynthia D. Ritchie (@CynthiaDRitchie) June 5, 2020
Before going live, Cynthia, who has over 200,000 followers on Twitter, tweeted about how members of the party were threatening her because they don’t want the world to know about the rape and the assaults. She said, “they know that over the years I have been raped/assaulted by men in the highest ranks of PPP. They don’t want the world to know.”
RM should be asked about the night he invited me to his home in the minister's enclave to discuss my 'visa'. The flowers, the electronic device (unusual) gift & the drugged drinks he gave me.
Ask him if he remembers what I wore & what he said when he was on top of me. Bc I DO. https://t.co/DBijPIZnR7
— Cynthia D. Ritchie (@CynthiaDRitchie) June 6, 2020
In another Twitter post, she details of how and when the alleged raped by Rehman Malik took place. She says that the assault took place in 2011 in Rehman Malik’s house around the time Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden was killed in a raid. She said, “I thought it was a meeting about my visa but I was given flowers/a drugged drink.”
The reason that Cynthia kept quiet for all these years is that no one from the then PPP government was ready to help her. In Facebook live she said that she has received countless death threats, rape threats and claims that PPP has her father but she has “evidentiary support” of everything that she has posted.
All the three men who have been accused by Cynthia- Gilani, Rehman and Makhdoom Shahabuddin have denied these claims (no surprise there).
Former Pakistan Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani not only denied these accusations but also said that he considered even responding to such allegations a, “humiliation and a disgrace”. While speaking to ARY News he questioned why Cynthia was even in Pakistan when she was being allegedly assaulted. He alleged that she had come to Pakistan as part of a campaign whose mission it was to malign politicians.
He also said that he had never met the blogger before 2019. He said, “If she was part of a delegation I don’t know but my only meeting with her was in 2019 at a diplomat’s house in Islamabad. Jalil Abbas Gilani and other party leaders were also present during that meeting.”
Meanwhile, former interior minister Rehman Malik said that he respected Cynthia as a woman but he denies these baseless accusations. His sons have already contacted their lawyers to start legal proceedings against Cynthia.
And the former federal minister, Makhdoom Shahabuddin claimed that these allegations are “concocted” and “baseless”. He said “Cynthia Ritchie is levelling these baseless allegations for the sake of cheap fame,” He further added “could not even think of” manhandling or beating up a woman.”
He also asked why she has kept quiet for so long. What a surprising question! We say this sarcastically because literally every woman who speaks up is inadvertently asked why she didn’t say this before.
Also Read: Meera Chopra Fights Back After She Is Brutally Trolled By Fans Of Jr NTR. It’s Outrageous That They’ve Threatened Her With Rape And Murder.
And, yes, I did tell someone at the UsEmb in 2011, but due to 'fluid' situation and 'complex' relations between US and Pakistan, response was less than adequate.
I've been engaged to a wonderful man who I met in 🇵🇰. He encouraged me to speak out, so we can move on as a couple. https://t.co/PpfdF9Fuib
— Cynthia D. Ritchie (@CynthiaDRitchie) June 5, 2020
Now we all know that men in powerful positions such as these three will say and do anything in their power to keep their name from being dragged through the mud. Especially since Cynthia’s rape and assault allegations come on the heel of another scandal between her and the PPP. That conflict served as a prologue for these rape and assault allegations made by her which have only made a bitter row, worse.
On 28th May, Cynthia posted a comment on a tweet that was considered derogatory and slander against former PPP leader and ex-Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. The party leaders filed a complaint against Cynthia with the cyber cell of the Federal Investigative Agency (FIA).
Cynthia commented on a tweet that was discussing a violent feud between a woman and model Uzma Khan. The former claimed that Uzma has had an affair with her husband of 13 years. She used this allegation to justify her violent behaviour towards Uzma.
This echos stories of what BB used to do when her husband cheated. She"d have the guards rape the women.
Why do women condone this rape culture? Why aren't the men ever held accountable? Where is the justice system?
To Pakistan's youth: please reject this backward thinking! https://t.co/Xr3xTNzAVq
— Cynthia D. Ritchie (@CynthiaDRitchie) May 28, 2020
On this post, Cynthia commented saying, “This echoes stories of what BB used to do when her husband cheated. She’d have the guards rape the women. Why do women condone this rape culture? Why aren’t the men ever held accountable? Where is the justice system?”
Needless to say that these wild accusations did not sit well with the PPP and they filed a complain with the FIA charging her with, “hateful comments and slander”.
In her Facebook live, she referred to this ongoing battle with Pakistan’s opposition party and said that the conflict is not about the tweet but the fact that PPP members know that she has a lot of dirt on people in Pakistan. She said, “It is primarily those who use and abuse others, particularly women and the vulnerable population. And I am one of them.”
It has been seen through history that women who try and stand up to people in powerful positions are called all sorts of names, their families are threatened, they are threatened with murder and rape and are completely discredited.
This might be a huge political conspiracy, one that might topple the powers that be. But knowing how these things generally go in the subcontinent, we doubt much is going to come of it.
https://thehauterfly.com/lifestyle/harvey-weinstein-sentenced-to-23-years-in-jail-for-third-degree-rape-charges-this-is-a-giant-win-for-the-metoo-movement/
