Claim: A social media post by Geo News suggests that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s chief Imran Khan said those who sexually assaulted former minister Ali Amin Gandapur should be ashamed.
Fact: Khan did not give any such statement. The graphic doing the rounds on social media is doctored.
Fact or Fiction?
On 9 April 2023, Twitter user Talha Saleem (@comrade_talha) shared a social media post by Geo News claiming that it suggests that former prime minister Imran Khan has said that those who sexually assaulted Ali Amin Gandapur should be ashamed.
The text juxtaposed on the graphic reads, “ علی امین گنڈا پور کیساتھ جنسی زیادتی کرنے والوں کو شرم آنی چاہئے، عمران خان [Those who sexually assaulted Ali Amin Gandapur should be ashamed, Imran Khan].”
Soch Fact Check found the claim to be false. A keyword search did not turn up any posts by Geo News carrying the claim, nor did any other media outlets quote Khan saying so.
Manzar Elahi, Editor Digital at Geo News Urdu, clarified in a tweet that the screenshot doing the rounds on social media is fake.
To further investigate the claim, Soch Fact Check sifted through Geo News Urdu’s posts shared in April on Facebook but could not find the statement attributed to the PTI chief.
On 6 April, Gandapur was arrested by the police in the check post attack case after he voluntarily surrendered to the police outside the Peshawar High Court, DI Khan bench. He went to the court to secure bail in different cases registered against him.
The police alleged that a huge cache of weapons were found in a car that was going to Lahore from a DI Khan residence of Gandapur. Later, an FIR was registered against the politician and two other suspects.
The car was asked to stop for identification at the Dajal check post of the Bhakkar police during a security check, but the rider fled after hitting the security barriers.
Gandapur has been granted bail in all cases registered against him in Bhakkar.
In the hate speech against state institutions case, the anti-terrorism court in Lahore handed over Gandapur to Shikarpur police on transit remand on 20 April.
In a treason case registered against the former parliamentarian on 21 April, Tharparkar police reached Shikarpur on 26 April to arrest Gandapur.
Virality:
The claim can be found here, here, here and here on Twitter.
It was shared here on Facebook.
Conclusion: Khan did not say those who sexually assaulted Ali Amin Gandapur should be ashamed. The viral graphic is doctored.