Shooting and Initial Investigation
On the evening of August 14, a 28-year-old TikTok star, known as Ayesha Gilamana and whose real name was Shamsu Bibi, was shot dead in her car in the limits of the Taxila Police Station, near Islamabad. She was travelling with her 15-year-old sister Asmiya and her brother when two men on a motorcycle opened fire on their vehicle, according to an account in The Express Tribune based on a first information report (FIR). The vehicle went out of control and crashed during the firing; the TikToker died inside the vehicle, while her sister was seriously injured and taken to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences in Islamabad.
The Tab, citing reports, gave a slightly different detail: Ayesha was driving near a gas station when the motorcycle pulled up, the passenger fired, striking her in the neck, and the car collided with a passing dump truck. A video circulating on social media, as described by The Tab, appears to show two motorcyclists intercepting the car and firing at close range.
Police registered a case on the complaint of the victim's father, Fazal. In the FIR, the father stated that his daughter had been active on TikTok for about three to four years and had around 1.3 million followers; she also had 176,000 YouTube subscribers, as reported by both The Tab and The Times of India. The father alleged that his daughter had financial dealings with individuals named Kausar and Javed alias Shaheen, and that she had received death threats over demands for repayment of money. He also told police that a man named Kashi had called his daughter before the incident and asked her to leave the house. The Express Tribune reported that police had included the names mentioned in the FIR in their investigation.
The Tab reported that the family said Ayesha received a phone call on the day she died from a man who asked her to leave quickly, after which she left in her car. The father alleged death threats and said he had "strong reason to believe" either of the two men was behind her death. The family deleted her TikTok account after her death, and her YouTube page could no longer be found, according to The Tab.
At that stage, police had not confirmed the identity of any suspects or any alleged motives, as The Tab noted.
Arrests and Alleged Family Link
The case took a new turn on August 22, when police said they had arrested five people in connection with the killing, including the victim's father, Fazal Sahibzada, and her biological brother Bashir, as reported by The Times of India. Police said they found a possible family link after checking technical evidence and CCTV footage from more than 100 cameras. According to police, the father and brother allegedly helped arrange the killing with other suspects, but these remain police allegations.
Police claimed that the father's initial report of a money dispute may have been a story created to make investigators look outside the family, according to The Times of India. Investigators also described the suspected motive as an alleged "honour killing", and said they found evidence of an earlier alleged attempt to attack the victim at a wedding in Haripur, which was avoided when she changed her route.
Police clarified that the brother who was in the car with the victim was named Nematullah, and he is not the same brother as Bashir, who was arrested, as reported by The Times of India.
The investigation continues, and police have said they will record the sister's statement if her condition permits, as reported by The Express Tribune.