The ex-husband of Imran Khan’s wife has revealed how he became suspicious when the legendary cricketer regularly contacted her late at night as she assured him that she only had ‘spiritual healing’.
Legendary playboy ladies Khan, the former prime minister of Pakistan now languishing in jail on corruption charges he denies, routinely called the married Bushra Bedi late at night and visited him.
But despite her assurances that the liaisons were an innocent means of exploring her spiritual growth, she eventually divorced her husband and quickly married Khan, now 71.
When Bedi’s ex-husband Khawar Maneka first spoke about the issue, he made a series of allegations about how he was misled as she grew closer to Khan.
Former Prime Minister of Pakistan and cricket star Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bedi
According to Maneka, Khan (pictured) regularly visited their home, often at night, without his permission
In an interview with Pakistani channel Samaa TV, Maneka said, “They talked on mobile for hours at night.
‘This all happened without my permission. And every time I questioned Bushra, she said it was an issue related to spiritual healing.”
He added: “Our marriage lasted 28 years. We had a very happy married life but Imran Khan ruined it.”
Despite warnings from Maneka’s mother, who he said said Khan was not suitable for his wife, the two began talking secretly over the mobile phone at night.
According to Maneka, Khan would regularly visit their home, often at night, without his permission.
At one point, Maneka claimed that he became so upset by Khan’s regular visits that he confronted him and then, with the help of a servant, forcibly removed Khan from the family home.
He said: ‘We were happily married. But Imran Khan came to my house in my absence and sat there with Bushra for hours.
‘Once I called my servant and asked him why my calls to Bushra’s phone were not being received. He told me that Imran Khan is here.
“So I told him to go to the room while I was on the phone. I scolded Bushra and told Khan to leave my house. I told my servant to make sure he left at once.”
Maneka (pictured) said neither he nor his children were aware that the wedding had taken place in 2018 until it was reported in the media a month and a half after their divorce.
But despite his attempts to keep them apart, she soon left him – and quickly married Khan.
Khan said he “only caught a glimpse of his wife’s face” after they got married: “I asked her to marry me without seeing her because she had never met me without her face being covered in a full veil .’
A follower of Sufism, Khan’s family said he was initially attracted to her because he: “had great respect for Bushra as a true follower.”
As his visits to her marital home became more frequent, their personal understanding also grew, family sources claim.
But they said the prospect of marriage only surfaced when Khan learned of Bushra’s divorce.
Maneka said neither he nor his children were aware that the marriage had taken place in 2018 until it was reported in the media a month and a half after their divorce.
In the 1980s and 1990s, Khan was a well-known figure on the London nightclub scene with a string of reported girlfriends, including actress Goldie Hawn, the late socialite Sita White and presenter Susannah Constantine. He also had a good relationship with Princess Diana.
He married the late tycoon Jimmy Goldsmith’s daughter Jemima in a two-minute ceremony in Paris in 1995.
They had two sons who live with Jemima, who continues to use his name despite their subsequent divorce in 2004. In 2015, he married Anglo-Pakistani author and filmmaker Reham Khan. They are also divorced.
Khan is widely regarded as one of the best cricket all-rounders of all time and served as Prime Minister of Pakistan from 2018 to 2022, when he was ousted.
He was subsequently arrested on various charges and is currently awaiting a bail hearing after being sentenced to three years in prison in August for selling government gifts, which he denied. He is also accused of selling state secrets, which he also denies.