Javeria Siddique, the widow of slain journalist Arshad Sharif, recently appeared on a podcast of the Naya Pakistan channel, recounting the harrowing details of Arshad’s ordeal before and after he left Pakistan in 2022.
She stated that Arshad had been threatened in Pakistan with a “gunshot to the head.”
Arshad Sharif fled the country in August 2022 to avoid arrest after he was slapped with multiple cases, including sedition charges, over an interview with Shahbaz Gill – a close aide of former Prime Minister Imran Khan – during which Gill passed comments that were perceived as provocation to mutiny.
He was killed by local police in Kenya two months later, with controversies surrounding his cause of death.
Javeria described the condition of his body, saying, “There were 18-19 wounds, four of his nails and a kidney was absent, ribs were broken.”
Journalist Husnain asked her whether his kidney was taken in Kenya, to which, she replied with sorrow, “Whether they [Kenyan authorities] or these [Pakistani] authorities did, how would I know?”
The Current talked with a medical doctor – who wishes to remain anonymous – currently working at CMH Lahore to inquire about the procedures involved in autopsies. He stated, “In criminal autopsies, it is not unusual to take some organs out of the body for further testing, but those organs are usually put back in. If, for some reason, the organ is kept for testing, then the authorities have to explicitly inform the family members of the deceased person.”
