The funeral of the murdered vice-president of Pakistan’s PTI party, Zahra Shahid Hussain, has been held at a mosque in Karachi.
She was shot dead outside her home in Karachi by gunmen on a motorcycle. PTI leader Imran Khan has blamed one of his political rivals for the killing.
On his Twitter feed, Mr Khan said he was holding the leader of Karachi’s dominant MQM party, Altaf Hussain, responsible for her death a claim the MQM has strongly denied.
It came as Karachi voted in a partial re-run of Pakistan’s general election. Police are investigating whether Mrs Hussain’s killing was the result of an attempted robbery or a politically motivated murder.
Doctors at Karachi’s Jinnah Hospital said their initial examination showed two bullet marks on her body. A full post-mortem report is expected to be released.
Mr Khan, a former captain of Pakistan’s cricket team, said Mr Hussain, who is in self-imposed exile in London, had “openly threatened PTI workers and leaders through public broadcasts”.
He said he was also holding the British government responsible, as he said he had warned it about Mr Hussain.
Mr Khan tweeted his accusations from his hospital bed, where he is recovering from a back injury sustained during a fall at an election rally in Lahore.
Last week, police in London confirmed they were investigating complaints that Mr Hussain had broken UK laws by issuing threats in a speech he made the day after the vote.
In response to accusations of electoral fraud, he is alleged to have threatened his accusers with violence. Mr Hussain says that his remarks were taken out of context.
The re-run in Karachi was ordered after Mr Khan’s party accused the MQM of widespread vote-rigging and intimidation.
The MQM, which took most of the seats in Karachi, denies any irregularities and is boycotting the vote.