ISLAMABAD - Reuters' Bureau chief for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Maria Golovnina, was found dead here on Monday.
Her sudden death though sparked a debate about the cause of death, local police said that her body did not bear any torture marks. According to the initial reports, she fell unconscious in the news agency's Islamabad office located in F-8 Sector and could not recover. She was reportedly lying on the floor, and had vomited. The investigation officer Abdul Sattar said that apparently Maria met a natural death. However, he said that postmortem would ascertain the actual cause of death. He said as Maria fell unconscious in her office, she was taken to a private hospital (Kalsoom International Hospital) where the doctors pronounced her dead. Later, her body was shifted to Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS).
Giving statement to police, her husband - a UK national - Digby said that he did not want postmortem of the body. He did not doubt any foul play in the death of his wife, the police said. According to police, the couple had no child. The dead body kept lying at PIMS mortuary for more than 10 hours. The authorities were indecisive on whether to conduct postmortem of the body as they did not hear anything from the Russian embassy in Pakistan and family of the journalist on the issue of postmortem till the filing of this report. The police said they will follow the Russian embassy officials on postmortem. Dr Ayesha Isani, the spokesperson for PIMS said that she was brought dead to the hospital.
In a statement issued by Reuters, it said "We are saddened to announce that Maria Golovnina, Reuters Bureau chief for Afghanistan and Pakistan, passed away on Monday. She was 34. Maria fell unconscious in the Islamabad Bureau. An ambulance arrived quickly and she was rushed to Kalsoom International Hospital, but medical teams were unable to save her".
Lauding her services for the organisation, Reuters said Maria was a superb journalist with a long and varied career at Reuters. A fluent Japanese and Russian speaker, she joined Reuters in Tokyo in 2001 and subsequently worked in postings around the world including London, Singapore, Moscow, Afghanistan and Iraq. In 2013, Maria became Bureau chief for Afghanistan and Pakistan, and led her team through an impressive run of exclusives and insights. Her talents, energy and can-do spirit will be sorely missed, it said.