Journalist Reham Khan, who was briefly married to Imran Khan, has claimed in her autobiography that the cricketer-turned-politician told her that he sired at least five illegitimate children, including “some” Indians.

Reham Khan, a British-Pakistani journalist, makes a number of claims in her self-titled autobiography about Imran Khan’s love life, including his alleged affair with a Bollywood superstar of the 1970s who was considered “one of the sexiest heroines of all time” and his efforts to completely dominate her while they were married.

Perhaps the most damning allegation of all in the book is Reham Khan’s claim about Imran Khan’s illegitimate children, which has already stirred up a storm on social media in Pakistan, where PDF versions and e-copies of the book are being widely shared and circulated although it is not officially available in that country.

Reham Khan, 45, writes that the issue of the 65-year-old Imran’s illegitimate children came up while they were discussing Tyrian, his daughter with the late socialite Sita White, in 2015.

In 1997, a Los Angeles court ruled that Khan was the father of Tyrian though he had refused to undergo a paternity test. Before her death in 2004, White made Khan’s first wife, Jemima Goldsmith, Tyrian’s guardian.

Khan and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party haven’t reacted to the claims in Reham Khan’s book. A PTI spokesman did not respond to phone calls and messages seeking a reaction.

Reham Khan writes: “After a few weeks of our marriage, as we discussed Tyrian, Imran casually added, ‘You know she isn’t the only one I have.’ He grinned mischievously. ‘There are 5 in total, that I know of.’

‘Five what?!’ I gasped. ‘Kids,’ he laughed.

‘What? You have five illegitimate children! How do you know?’ I asked. ‘Well, the mothers told me,’ he said. ‘All White’s?’

‘No, some are Indians. The eldest is 34 now.’”

Ahead of their marriage in January 2015, Reham Khan writes, she was confronted by several people with stories of Imran Khan’s past relationships, and to her surprise, she says that he confirmed a lot of these stories. These included the tales of his relationships with Bollywood stars.

She writes: “Imran was keen to confirm all the stories I had thought were just rumours. The most famous story, of course, was that of a Bollywood superstar of the ’70s. Considered to be one of the sexiest heroines of all time, there had been rumours of Imran and her. We had heard these whilst we were growing up. Imran confirmed to me that they were true. Though Imran was happy to sexually engage with actresses, he and the family clearly thought little of them.”

Reham Khan claims that Imran Khan told her he had ended the relationship with the star but a “film producer friend” of the star told her it was “actually Imran who had chased her, and that she had been very financially benevolent towards him”.

She writes, “Imran’s stories always painted the women in an unflattering light. He told me how he met her in Bombay, had his fill, and moved on. But, according to Imran, the lady followed him to London and became clingy.”

India also figured in Imran Khan’s alleged attempts to control Reham Khan after their marriage, which ended in October 2015. She writes how Imran Khan forced her to cancel a visit to India, where she had been invited to a conference of women journalists in New Delhi in September 2015.

Imran Khan conveyed his message to Reham Khan through his secretary, Awn Chaudhry.

Reham Khan writes, “… Awn called me and conveyed Imran’s message that I should not fly out to India…Apparently, Imran Choudhary from Dubai had told Imran that my visit was being advertised in Delhi and getting a lot of attention. Awn asked me not to attend the conference as a sign of goodwill towards my husband. My husband couldn’t even say it to me directly. ”

She adds that Imran was “deeply uneasy at the thought of letting me interact with any politicians or diplomats”, including the then US ambassador in Islamabad, Richard Olson, who reportedly “seemed very keen to pick my brains on political issues, particularly India”.

Reham Khan writes: “Richard Olson appeared to be a close friend and ally of Imran and …Imran tried desperately not to let me speak much at all in front of the ambassador. If I were to play devil’s advocate, perhaps I could say that my husband was just trying to protect me from exposing my real views to this very important ally. Maybe he wanted to keep me in his life but my dreams for Pakistan clashed with the agenda he was told to stay on.” (Hindustan Times)