Police ordered to register FIR over actor's death

A court in Karachi ordered the police on Monday to register a case in connection with the recovery of the body of actress and social media celebrity Humaira Asghar, as it disposed of the plea for registering the murder case.

The additional district and sessions judge South directed police to register the case under Section 154 of the Pakistan Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC). The law deals with the registration of First Information Reports (FIRs) in cognisable offenses.

In its decision of the petition filed by Advocate Shahzaib Sohail, the court instructed the police to record statements of the deceased's family. If grounds exist under Section 154, an FIR must be registered, the court ordered.

Humaira Asghar, 35, was found dead in her apartment in the posh Defence Housing Authority neighbourhood in July. The grim discovery was made when the landlord, accompanied by a court bailiff and police, arrived to execute a court-ordered eviction due to non-payment of rent.

Police officials said at that time that Humaira had reportedly not paid rent since 2024, despite residing in the third-floor flat located in Ittehad Commercial area of DHA Phase VI since 2018.

According to SHO Gizri, the flat's main door was locked from the inside, raising suspicions. After breaking it open, police found her body lying in one of the rooms in an advanced state of decomposition. Initial estimates suggested she had been dead for 20 to 25 days.

The SHO had said that no immediate signs of forced entry or foul play were observed, and initial assumption was that she may have died of natural causes, pending the final postmortem report.

However, in court, the petitioner argued that Humaira had been murdered and requested the registration of an FIR. The plea maintained that she died on October 7, but her phone remained in use until February 2025.

It was further claimed that her phone was unlocked, calls from her makeup artist went unanswered, and later her WhatsApp display picture was deleted. The petition also sought summoning of the makeup artist and inclusion of Humaira's brother and other relatives in the investigation.

The police report submitted in court confirmed that blood samples were collected from the washroom and bedroom. It further stated that Humaira's family had been contacted, her postmortem completed, and that the final forensic report was awaited.

The investigating officer had earlier submitted that if evidence of murder emerged, the police themselves would register a case. The petition had also named the SSP South and SHO Gizri as respondents.