Husband of reporter killed in PTI long march gives up pursuing legal action, Govt alleges husband pressurised to give statement

Sadaf Naeem, a reporter with Channel Five, died on Sunday in an unfortunate accident near Sadhoke while reporting on the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) long march.

The late reporter’s husband has decided not to pursue “any kind of legal action”, according to a statement submitted to the police on Sunday night.

“When the long march […] started to move gradually, my wife — who was standing on the divider — fell and was trapped beneath the container and died on the spot,” her husband stated.

“This was an accident,” he added, further saying that he did not want to take any legal action, “nor do I want to get a postmortem examination conducted”.

اس درخواست کےمطابق شہید صدف نعیم کے شوہر نے اپنی اہلیہ کی وفات کو حادثہ قرار دیتے ہوئے کسی بھی قسم کی قانونی کاروائی اور پوسٹ مارٹم کی اجازت دینے سے انکار کیا ہے۔ شہید صدف کی فیملی کے فیصلے کا احترام کیا جانا چاہیے۔ اللّہ شہید صدف پر رحمت فرمائیں اور انکی فیملی کو صبر عطا کرے۔ pic.twitter.com/kd6CSwmDQd

— Gharidah Farooqi (T.I.) (@GFarooqi) October 30, 2022

He requested that “The dead body be handed over to us immediately so that the burial can be done in a timely manner.”

However, Railway Minister, Khawaja Saad Rafique, shared a video purportedly showing Naeem’s husband signing his statement in the presence of PTI leaders including Aslam Iqbal.

Rafique alleged that the deceased reporter’s husband was “surrounded” by PTI members to make him sign the statement.

یہ ہے دو نہیں ایک پاکستان کے نعرے کی اصلیت :
شہید ہونے والی رپورٹر کے خاوندسےکیسے گھیرا ڈالکر سائن کروائے جا رہے کہ میں کوئ قانونی کاروائی نہیں کرنا چاھتا
کوئ شرم نہ حیأ
pic.twitter.com/vtg2dKDCQS

— Khawaja Saad Rafique (@KhSaad_Rafique) October 31, 2022

Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said that Naeem’s fellow journalists were alleging that she was “pushed”.

جاں بحق خاتون رپورٹر کے ساتھی صحافیوں کا بیان ہے کہ صدف کو دھکا دیا گیا، دھکا دینے والے شخص کو گرفتار کیا جائے، قانون کے تقاضے پورے کئے جائیں؛ اس شہادتی بیان کے بعد ضروری ہے کہ واقعے کی تحقیقات ہوں۔

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— Rana Sana Ullah Khan (@RanaSanaullahPK) October 30, 2022

He called for the “person who pushed her” to be arrested as “after this witness account, it was necessary that investigations of the incident are carried out.”