In the latest twist to the controversy surrounding MNA Ayesha Gulalai's accusations of sexual harassment against Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan, a series of since deleted tweets from PTI leader Naeemul Haque's allegedly hacked Twitter account surfaced on Friday claiming he had indeed discussed marriage with the lawmaker.
Screenshots of the tweets from Haque's account, read: "Should I apologise for discussing marriage with Ayesha Gulalai? No I don't think so. Nothing wrong with that."
"There was no marriage proposal as such to Ayesha Gulalai as she herself said in Asma Shirazi's show, just a discussion," another tweet reads.
The tweets were believed to have been a response to Gulalai's claims on Shirazi's talk show that she had received offers of marriage from both Haque and Khan. However, Haque has since claimed that his account was 'compromised' and the tweets were posted without his knowledge.
Gulalai, on Shirazi's talk show, had alleged: "Naeemul Haque messaged me saying 'I am very alone and wish to marry you'."
"Imran Khan did not speak about marriage up-front, but would drop hints about getting married and send me vulgar text messages," Gulalai alleged.
After this happened, she continued, she had taken her father and brother to see Khan regarding the matter in 2013, "but he appeared to be in a bad mood because perhaps he wished to see me alone," she alleged. "He had said 'meet me alone'," she added.
"I took my father and brother with me, and they asked him to tell them what the issue is, what his intentions are. He again sent inappropriate messages after this meeting," she had alleged.
"My father tried to handle the situation in a civil manner, he asked what Khan's intentions are... but he tried to dodge the discussion," she had claimed.
PTI Central Information Secretary Shafqat Mahmood today confirmed that the tweets had been shared from Haque's account, but claimed that the account had been hacked.
"Just spoke to Naeemul Haq. He told me his twitter account has been hacked and false tweets regarding Ayesha Gulalai [have been] posted in his name," Mahmood tweeted.
Earlier this week, Gulalai announced she was quitting the PTI amid a series of scathing allegations against Khan and his "gang", accusing them of sending in appropriate text messages to female members of the party, claiming that she had received the first such message in 2013.
Gulalai's allegations against Khan caused a furore among party members and deepened an existing rift with the ruling PML-N, with PTI accusing them of allegedly masterminding a ploy to malign the PTI chief.
With Gulalai's announcement, speculation was rife that she would be joining the PML-N following rumours that she had held a recent meeting with PML-N leader Amir Muqam.
The ruling PML-N, as well as PPP, have backed Gulalai’s allegations against Khan, and have called for an investigation into the matter.
The National Assembly today passed a motion calling for the formation of a special committee to investigate the allegations against Imran Khan, and ordered it to submit a report on the matter within a month.
Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi today also assured provision of round-the-clock security for the MNA after she had claimed on television that she was scared for her life.
