Pakistan: Social media content creator shot dead amid rising violence against women

London: A 28-year-old content creator with more than 1.3 million followers was shot dead by two men in Taxila, near Pakistan’s capital Islamabad, highlighting yet again the growing violence against women and social media influencers in the country.

Shamso Bibi, also known online as Ayesha Gilamana, was killed on August 14, allegedly over a financial dispute, her brother Niamatullah said as he appealed to Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif to intervene in the case and ensure justice, a report in British newspaper ‘The Independent’ detailed.

In his complaint, Bibi’s father, Fazal Sahibzada, alleged that his daughter was called outside her Taxila home by a man identified as Kashif. She subsequently left the house in a car with her sister and brother.

As the vehicle passed near a market, two men on a motorcycle allegedly fired at it, hitting Bibi in the neck, resulting in her death, the police report said.

A video purportedly capturing the incident and circulating on social media showed two men on a motorcycle stopping Bibi’s car and firing at it from close range. The vehicle reportedly lost control and collided with a dumper truck, causing serious injuries to Bibi’s sister.

“My daughter Shamso Bibi used to make TikTok [videos] and had been doing so for nearly three to four years. It had over 30-35 million likes and over one million followers,” Sahibzada said in the complaint, ‘The Independent’ reported, citing Arab News.

Bibi’s killing comes against the backdrop of a disturbing surge in violent attacks on young women content creators across Pakistan.

Last month, Sahil, an Islamabad-based organisation, documented as many as 3,172 cases of gender-based violence across Pakistan during the first six months of 2026, including 18 cases involving transgender persons.

According to the report, 644 murders, 514 cases of torture, 462 abductions, 363 suicides, 280 rapes, 175 injuries, 132 honour killings, and 21 other crimes, including harassment, gang rape and pornography cases were reported in Pakistan in the first six months of 2026, leading Pakistani daily Dawn reported.

As per the report, 334 victims were aged between the age group of 21-30 years while 306 victims were aged between 11-20 years and 120 victims were aged between 31-40 years. The ages of victims were not included in 71 per cent of the cases.
-IANS