KARACHI, May 13: A senior journalist and former staff reporter of Dawn, G. D. Ghauri, died of a protracted illness here on Sunday afternoon. He was 79.

He leaves a widow — Najma Ghauri, a retired associate professor of the Govt College for Women (Shahrah-i-Liaquat) — a son and a daughter.

He was buried in the Paposh Nagar graveyard in the evening. His Soyem will be held on Tuesday between Zuhr and Maghrib prayers — for women at E-23 B, Pakistan Railways Cooperative Housing Society, Block 10 A, Gulshan-i-Iqbal, Rashid Minhas Road, and for men at the nearby Jilani Masjid.

Mr Ghauri had suffered a stroke in December and since then he had been bedridden. His condition deteriorated a few days back when he stopped taking food and became very weak. He was taken to hospital on May 1 and after a week he was discharged.

His condition further deteriorated on May 8 and his kidneys and liver stopped functioning. He died at around 3.55pm on Sunday.