Reuters Journalist, Golovnina, found dead in Pakistan

Maria Golovnina, a seasoned Thomson Reuters Journalist, was found dead on Monday in Islamabad, the capital city of Pakistan.

According to The Express Tribune, the body of Golovnina, a Russian-Japanese journalist who had been working as Reuters news agency’s bureau chief for Pakistan and Afghanistan, was found in Islamabad’s Sector-F neighbourhood, with initial reports stating her death occurred from natural causes.

In August 2012, Thomson Reuters appointed Golovnina as chief correspondent, based at the agency’s London bureau before later being deployed to Pakistan in 2013.

She has been with Reuters for more than 12 years, having worked in various bureaux and assignments including Russia, Central Asia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Japan and Libya.

For the past year and a half, she has been the Bureau chief of the news agency in Pakistan.

According to her colleagues, the Russian journalist fell unconscious and was rushed to Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) where she was pronounced dead.

Golovnina’s husband reportedly told PIMS doctors to not carry out a post-mortem examination on her body, a stance that may eventually be rejected by other concerned parties.

Her last feed for Reuters came in on February 12, 2015, from Islamabad, Pakistan stating China’s position to mediate in stalled Afghan Taliban peace talks.

As at the time this report was filed, Reuters had not confirmed the death of the resourceful journalist.