On Monday when the ‘Me Too’ movement on social media fuelled by Harvey Weinstein episode was peaking, an unverified Twitter account of Australian actress Lara Bingle accused former Pakistan cricketer and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chairman Imran Khan of being a "harasser" and "womanizer".
In a series of tweets from the handle carrying the name of Lara Bingle, who is former Australian cricket captain Micheal Clark's ex-fiance and model, alleged that Khan sexually harassed her at a party.
She compared him to the movie mogul Weinstein, who is facing severe backlash from all the fronts after actresses have openly flung "molestation" charges against him.
"Harvey Weinstein is nowhere near Pakistan's Imran Khan whom I met in June 2013 in London. Imran Khan sexually harassed me at a party.(sic)"
She went on to express relief over the fact that she never had to meet him again. "It left me in shock. Imran Khan is a womanizer. I'm glad I never met him again. We women need to stay away from men like him& Weinstein (sic)."
Lara, however, has a verified Twitter handle by the name Lara Worthington, active since August 2010. But, the account that made the allegations, goes by the name Lara Bingle, created in August 2017. Fans and followers of Khan took to social media to allege that the tweet from the fake handle was planted by the ruling party.
The tweets were shared widely on the micro-blogging site, evoking both support and severe criticism for the Pakistani politicians. No official statements have been issues from both the parties yet.
In August, Pakistan lawmaker Ayesha Gulalai Wazir from tribal South Waziristan region, accused Khan of sending her “objectionable” text messages. Khan’s party PTI denied that he had sent any such text messages to Wazir.
