Social activist, journalist shot dead in Turbat

QUETTA: A social activist and journalist, Shaheena Shaheen Baloch, was shot dead in the Turbat district of Balochistan, police said on Saturday. According to the preliminary police information, her husband had shot and killed her.

Baloch was working with the PTV Bolan, editor of Dazgahar - a Balochi magazine - and a renowned painter. According to SP Kech, the husband of the TV anchor, Mehrab Gichki allegedly fired at her with his 9mm pistol. He later brought her to the hospital, where she was declared dead. According to SP Kech, the maternal uncle of Shaheena Baloch, Amjad Raheem, nominated the husband of the deceased in the FIR at the Kech Police Station, Turbat. Reportedly Gichki fled after abandoning wife’s body at the hospital. However, the police were conducting raids to arrest Mehrab Gichki.

Balochistan government spokesperson Liaquat Shahwani termed the incident “extremely unfortunate” and said that the police were fully cooperating with the deceased’s family. “I had a conversation with the DPO Kech. He told me that some people had left her body at the hospital,” Shahwani said, adding that her uncle had received the body.

Meanwhile, the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists condemned the murder of a female journalist in Turbat. The PFUJ condemned the brutal murder of journalist and anchor Shaheena Shaheen in the Turbat district of Balochistan.

In a statement, PFUJ President Shahzada Zulfiqar and Secretary General Nasir Zaidi asked the provincial and federal governments, and the IG FC to take quick action for the arrest of the persons involved in the murder. We want an immediate judicial inquiry into her murder and the arrest of her murderer, the statement added.