Who is Bushra Bibi, woman who tied knot to Imran Khan in a secret ceremony and is linked to shocking black magic claims

Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi have been sentenced to 17 years in prison each in the Toshakhana corruption case. Bushra Bibi, who was known as Bushra Maneka before her marriage to Pakistan's former cricket captain-turned-politician, mostly kept a low profile unlike Khan's previous wives Jemima Goldsmith and Reham Khan. Imran Khan's marriage with Bushra Bibi in the 2018 was a low-profile ceremony. Bibi, Imran Khan's third wife, had always been deemed an apolitical and somewhat mysterious spiritual figure.

Her marriage with Imran Khan triggered wild gossip for years but she largely kept herself largely shielded from the public gaze – even as she found herself jailed alongside her husband in January.

Who is Bushra Bibi?

Bushra Bibi, the faith healer wife of Imran Khan, was born Bushra Riaz Watto and she changed her name after her marriage. Her husband and followers commonly refer to her as Bushra Bibi or Bushra Begum, titles that denote respect in the Urdu language. In November last year, she emerged as one of the most prominent faces while demanding the release of her husband from jail. Bibi – fresh out of prison – was leading from the front. Wearing a niqab veil, Bibi made a speech to Khan’s supporters encouraging them to keep marching towards the political heart of Islamabad. She said she would not leave until Khan was released.


Bushra Bibi, who is in her late 40s, has kept a low profile since marrying Imran Khan in a secret 2018 ceremony. She stepped out of the prison in 2024 in October after nine months for a case involving the illegal sale of state gifts, according to a Reuters report.

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Bushra was previously married for around 30 years and hails from a family of landowners in Punjab, but little is known about her early life. Bushra is a devotee of Fariduddin Masud Ganjshakar, or Baba Farid, a revered Muslim mystic and Sufi saint whose shrine is located in her ex-husband's hometown of Pakpattan in Punjab.

She usually appears in public with her face covered by a veil, dressed in a flowing plain black or white abaya, or robe. Pakistanis who admire Bushra's devotion to the saint call her a spiritual leader while Khan's opponents accuse her of practicing sorcery, a claim his aides have repeatedly denied. It was not clear when or how Khan met Bushra, but former aide Aun Chaudhry said Khan was very impressed with her spirituality.

What are the explosive claims about Bushra Bibi?

Imran Khan’s marriage to Bibi coincided with his turn toward a more fervent religiosity—a striking shift from his earlier playboy image—and sparked widespread speculation in Pakistan. Allegations even accused Bibi of involvement in black magic and witchcraft, according to The Guardian Responding to these claims, Bibi’s sister, Maryam Riaz Wattoo, said she was deeply religious and had been “completely misrepresented by media propaganda.”

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A report in the British magazine The Economist claimed that Bushra Bibi had an outsized influence in the Imran Khan government from 2018 to 2022 which sparked a massive row in Pakistan. The article titled ‘The mystic, the cricketer and the spy: Pakistan’s game of thrones’, written by Owen Bennett Jones and Bushra Taskeen, states that, according to those in the know, Bushra Bibi used black magic and religious tactics to influence Khan and even relayed messages on behalf of the ISI.

The article also alleged that Bushra Bibi used to practice ‘black magic’. Khan and his wife, who were convicted in a graft case, are currently in jail. According to The Economist article, Bushra Bibi irked Khan’s friends and allies, with ministers and household staff complaining about the “eccentric” First Lady having “too much power”. “Her interference was absolute,” a member of his cabinet told 1843.

“For those inclined to this way of thinking, Bushra Bibi fits the mould perfectly: a sorceress bewitching the nation’s hero and bending him to her will. But there is another theory about Bushra Bibi’s influence which has less to do with magic. In this version of events, her hold over Khan is the result of Machiavellian string-pulling, orchestrated by the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Pakistan’s feared spy agency,” it states. Khan’s party, PTI, has dismissed The Economist’s report as “fabricated” and “politically motivated”.

According to Awn Chaudry, Khan’s political aide, and Inam Shah, the PTI chairman’s house manager, the then Pakistan PM sought his wife’s guidance for political and government appointments. Khan believed Bushra Bibi’s claim that she could “read faces” and would send her photographs of potential candidates. She had a keen interest in interest in Sufism, or Islamic mysticism.