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