"It's only human to expect a friend to show support in these difficult times," Imran Khan aide Zulfikar Bukhari told Newsweek.

Bibi is seen in all public appearances wearing a niqab, a long garment worn by some Muslim women to cover their entire body and face, apart from their eyes. She is reportedly the first niqab-wearing spouse of a Pakistani Prime Minister.

Authorities have reopened roads linking Pakistan’s capital with the rest of the country, ending a four-day lockdown, after using tear gas and firing into the air to disperse supporters of imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan who demanded his release from prison.