Member of National Assembly (MNA) Mussarat Ahmadzeb, in an interview to right-wing Urdu-language daily Ummat, has alleged that the attack on Malala Yousufzai was "scripted".
In the interview, available online, Ahmadzeb — who was elected to the Assembly on a Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) ticket — said, "The attack on Malala was scripted way before the incident."
"She [Malala] was shot in the head but no bullet was found in [the] CT scan in Swat. But yes, then the bullet got stuck in her head in CMH Peshawar," the MNA later said in a tweet.
She went on to allege that the government had supposedly facilitated medical assistants who helped 'fabricate' Malala's story, saying: "The medics who did the CT scan along with the doctor who examined her, all were awarded plots by the government."
Mussarat later defended her stance on Twitter, even alleging that Malala was unqualified to pen the stories BBC published in her name.
"Malala could not read or write [at] the time she supposedly wrote the Gul Makai stories for BBC," she alleged.
PTI responds
Speaking to DawnNews, PTI spokesperson Shafqat Mahmood said the party had disowned Mussarat in 2014.
"During the dharna against election rigging, three MNAs — Mussarat Ahmadzeb, Gulzar Ahmed, and Siraj Muhammad — refused to abide by party laws," Mahmood stated
"When PTI decided to boycott proceedings in the National Assembly, these members violated party protocols and showed up to the Assembly."
The spokesperson for PTI clarified that the party had no relation to Mussarat or any of her statements.
It should be noted that National Assembly website still classifies Mussarat Ahmadzeb as a PTI member.