Bushra Bibi’s ‘Black Magic’: Inside shocking charges of animal sacrifice, mysticism that haunted Imran Khan’s inner circle

As ousted former Pakistan PM Imran Khan continues to languish in prison, his former aides and household staff have come forward with extraordinary claims about his wife Bushra Bibi’s alleged practice of black magic.

An extensive report published in The Economist's magazine 1843 has delved into the inner circle of the cricketer-turned-politician and his marriage to the spiritual adviser that once shocked the country.

While the accusations against Bushra Bibi remain unproven, dismissed by Khan’s party as character assassination, accounts from ex-household staff and political allies paint a vivid picture of a First Lady whose spiritual influence extended deep into the heart of the Khan household.

As one former cabinet minister bluntly put it: “Her interference… was absolute.”

According to the report, Bushra Bibi, who is also in prison, entered Khan’s life long before he became prime minister, initially as a spiritual adviser steeped in the Sufi tradition.

According to several people who worked with or around the couple, her influence soon expanded from matters of faith to intimate control over daily decisions and political appointments.

Those closest to the household describe Khan as deeply receptive to Bushra Bibi’s aura of mysticism. He once told a British newspaper, “Sufism is an order with many levels, but I have never met anyone who is as high as my wife.” That reverence opened the door to a series of rituals that unsettled those around him.

Accounts of Meat Rituals

Imran Khan’s longtime driver, Mohammed Safeer, told 1843 about being pulled into what he viewed as disturbing practices soon after Bushra Bibi moved into Khan’s Bani Gala residence.

According to the report, Safeer said he was instructed to buy 1.25kg of beef, which was passed around her husband’s head three times while she chanted incantations. The meat was then thrown onto the roof to be eaten by birds.

Safeer also described a ritual involving red chillies circled around Khan’s head — said to dispel “bad spirits” that he claimed were attributed to Khan’s previous marriage. The driver further alleged that he was told to procure “the severed heads of black goats each day”, except on certain days when “dead black chickens” were required instead. The remains, he said, were deposited in a graveyard after the rituals concluded.

Another butcher near Khan’s home told the magazine that he too received unusual orders for beef and goat heads, and at times live black goats supplied with a special knife provided by Bushra Bibi.

Political Fallout and Warnings From Within

Senior PTI leaders also voiced concerns. Jahangir Tareen, once a key Khan ally, was told by a member of Bushra Bibi’s former in-laws that she was “dabbling in black magic.” After attending a dinner where Bushra Bibi appeared dressed entirely in white and told him, “I am wearing these white clothes so you don’t think of me as a black-magic woman,” Tareen concluded he had no political future in PTI and left the party.

Others said criticism of Bushra Bibi led directly to political exile. One aide shared a message from Khan informing him he was barred from attending the swearing-in ceremony because “Bushra begum has had a dream… She does not tell me what it is but says that she cannot go to the ceremony tomorrow if u are there.”

The PTI insists all such accounts are fabrications. “These are people who have been disgraced and belong to the other political camp,” a party spokesperson told The Economist.

But multiple former insiders maintain that Bushra Bibi shaped decisions ranging from cabinet selections to travel schedules—and that her mystical authority over Khan was profound.

The report further said that Bushra holds the key to Imran's release from prison since she is perhaps the only one who can persuade him to make a compromise with the army and secure a release.