Who Was Ayesha Gilamana? Pakistani TikToker Shamsu Bibi Shot Dead at 28 in Taxila
Pakistani TikToker Ayesha Gilamana, whose real name was Shamsu Bibi, was shot dead in Taxila, a city near Islamabad, on the evening of Aug. 14. The 28-year-old content creator, who had built a following of about 1.3 million on TikTok over roughly four years, died after unidentified gunmen on a motorcycle opened fire on the car she was travelling in.
According to a First Information Report (FIR) filed by her father, Fazal Sahibzada, Bibi received a phone call shortly before the attack from a man identified as Kashif, also known as “Kashi,” who asked her to leave the house immediately. She then left home in a car with her 15-year-old sister, Asmiya, and her brother, Nematullah.
Bibi was driving the vehicle when it reached the vicinity of a petrol station on GT Road at around 4:40 to 5 p.m. Two men, described in the FIR as being between 30 and 35 years old, pulled up alongside the car on a motorcycle. One of the men opened fire, and Bibi was struck in the neck. She died at the scene. The gunfire caused the driver to lose control, and the car collided with a passing dumper truck. Asmiya was seriously injured in the crash and was shifted to a hospital in Islamabad for treatment.
Sahibzada said he rushed to a hospital in Taxila, where he identified his daughter’s body in the mortuary. He told police that his son, who witnessed the shooting, described the attackers fleeing the scene immediately afterward. Closed-circuit camera footage from the area reportedly shows two men on a motorcycle leaving the location right after the firing.
The FIR also references an alleged financial dispute involving Bibi and two other individuals, named as Kausar and Javed, alias Shaheen. Investigators are examining whether this dispute, along with threats the family says Bibi had mentioned before her death, is connected to the killing. Police in Taxila have registered a murder case and say they are pursuing the investigation from multiple angles, including the identity of the caller who summoned Bibi outside, the CCTV footage, and the financial dispute named in the complaint.
Bibi’s killing has drawn wide attention because of her large social media following and because the circumstances, an apparent lure by phone followed by a targeted daylight shooting, point to a planned attack rather than a random act of violence. Her death has renewed concern in Pakistan about the safety of women who build public profiles on social media, several of whom have faced threats or violence tied to their online visibility in recent years. The case is also being watched for how quickly authorities can identify and arrest the attackers, given that the family named a suspect in the original complaint.
As of the latest updates, police have not made any arrests in the case. Investigators are working to trace the man identified as Kashif and to establish whether the financial dispute named in the FIR was the motive behind the shooting. The CCTV footage of the two motorcycle-riding suspects is being reviewed as part of efforts to identify them. Bibi’s family is pressing for a swift investigation, and further details are expected as police complete forensic and phone-record analysis tied to the case.
