While actors like Sonya Hussyn and Yashma Gill have offered to arrange her burial, others have reflected on the isolation she may have faced.
Actor and model Humaira Asghar Ali, whose decomposed body was found in a Karachi apartment on Tuesday nearly a month after her passing when the police were executing a court-ordered eviction, stirred a wave of grief and introspection in the entertainment industry.
What made matters worse were reports suggesting her family had refused to claim her body, prompting several actors to volunteer to take responsibility for her final rites.
While some have offered to ensure she is buried with dignity, others have shared emotional reflections about the isolation she may have faced and the state of a society that allowed her to die unnoticed.
The Actors Collective (ACT) of Pakistan — a trade body representing actors in the country — has announced that it will ensure she is “laid to rest with the dignity and respect every human being deserves.”
“In our family, no one is forgotten. No member is left behind. We stand together — in life, in loss, and in remembrance,” the organisation wrote in a statement on Wednesday.
Actor Sonya Hussyn was among the first to publicly offer to carry out the final rites if no relative came forward. “I request the authorities to wait until tomorrow. If no one shows up, I would like to take on the duty of performing the final rites,” she wrote on Instagram.
Yasir Hussain supported her call, stating, “The industry that caused the deceased’s family to disown her, that same industry is here for her.”
Yashma Gill said she reached out to law enforcement to explore the legal process around claiming Ali’s body. “If we failed her in life, let us not fail her in death,” she wrote. Gill added that a few of Ali’s relatives may now come forward to take responsibility for the burial. Still, if they don’t, the police have agreed to involve those willing to help from the industry.
Other celebrities used the moment to reflect on the deeper implications of Ali’s death, on isolation, estrangement, and how quickly people in the public eye can be forgotten.
“It’s a collective pain for every woman out there trying to pursue her passion,” wrote Hajra Yamin. “I can’t stop thinking about what she must’ve been going through, the fear, the silence, the emotional and even physical isolation. She must’ve had big dreams. And she was brave enough to step out and follow them. What breaks my heart is that she was far too young to leave this world with her dreams still unfulfilled.”
Actor Mariyam Nafees expressed disbelief over the delay in discovering Ali’s death. “Six months?! Been off the grid for six months and nobody knew?!” she wrote, referencing speculation that she may have died six months earlier. The medico-legal reports have not yet confirmed Ali’s time of death or the cause.
“The family refusing to claim her body is a new low. People disrespecting her by sharing dead body’s pictures and videos for ‘content’? Another damn low,” she added, criticising Ali’s family and those sharing disturbing images and videos of the deceased.
Zarnish Khan urged people not to circulate graphic imagery or indulge in speculation, and instead pray for the deceased.
Actor Anmol Baloch shared a sharply worded message, calling Ali’s death a mirror held up to society. “She died alone. Her body lay in that flat for a whole month. No one noticed. No one came. No one cared enough to check… We are failing — as friends, as family, as a society.”
The 32-year-old actor and model, and former Tamasha Ghar contestant, was found dead in her Defence Housing Authority flat, possibly weeks after her passing, with no one having sounded the alarm.
According to South DIG Syed Asad Raza, the body was discovered when police were executing a court order to evict occupants from the Ittehad Commercial Phase-VI apartment on Tuesday. With no response at the door, officers broke the lock and entered, only to find Ali’s body inside. The police believe she had been dead for up to two weeks.
Dr Summaiya Syed, police surgeon at Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, confirmed the body was in an “advanced stage of decomposition.” A postmortem has been conducted, but the cause of death is currently reserved.
Ali had stopped paying rent last year, prompting the landlord to seek eviction through the court. According to South SSP Mahzoor Ali, initial findings suggest there was no foulplay: the apartment door was locked from the inside, including the balcony.