ISLAMABAD: A postmortem was conducted on the body of Reuters bureau chief Maria Golovnina at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) on Tuesday.

The postmortem report could not confirm the actual cause of her death. However, samples taken from the body were sent to the pathologist and forensic lab.

The journalist was found unconscious in a bathroom of her office in the federal capital on Monday. She was taken to a private hospital in Blue Area where the doctors pronounced her death. The body later shifted to Pims.

On Monday, the postmortem could not be conducted on the body of the 34-year-old journalist as an approval was needed from her parents. However, the father of the deceased, who was in Tokyo, sent the approval on Tuesday.

Dr Nasreen Butt, Dr Farrukh Kamal and Dr Naseer carried out the postmortem on the body and collected samples on Tuesday.

Pims Vice Chancellor Dr Javed Akram told Dawn that it was not possible to ascertain the actual cause of the death.

“The postmortem was just one part of the investigation. I am sure that during the investigation and after getting the forensic report, it will be confirmed if it was a suicide, natural death or there were some other reasons,” he said.

In reply to a question, Dr Akram said there were bruises on the neck and legs of the deceased but that could be the result of a fall or might have appeared during the shifting of the body to hospitals.

“During the postmortem, it was confirmed that the deceased was suffocated but it does not necessarily means that she was strangled.”

Dr Akram said when he discussed the reasons with a female representative of Reuters, she refused to accept the possibility of murder.

“She told me Maria Golovnina was in her office so she could not have been killed. Moreover, the door of the bathroom was locked from inside and the staff opened it with a screwdriver and other tools.”

In reply to another question, Dr Akram said the bone of the deceased’s neck was not broken and neither there were marks of fingers on the neck. He said the forensic lab report can confirm the cause of the death.

Published in Dawn February 25th , 2015

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