Entertainment News | Pakistani Actress Humaira's Family Refuses to Claim Her Body
Get latest articles and stories on Entertainment at LatestLY. The family of Pakistani actress-model Humaira Asghar Ali has refused to claim or bury her remains after her body was discovered under suspicious circumstances, nearly two months after her death, from an apartment in Karachi's upmarket Defence Housing Society.
Karachi, Jul 10 (PTI) The family of Pakistani actress-model Humaira Asghar Ali has refused to claim or bury her remains after her body was discovered under suspicious circumstances, nearly two months after her death, from an apartment in Karachi's upmarket Defence Housing Society.
Karachi police are yet to determine whether her death was due to suicide, accident, or foul play. Humaira was 32.
A police team found her decomposed body last week while executing a court order to vacate the flat.
DIG South Zone Asad Reza said Humaira's family members have “flatly refused to own her or take the body for burial,” claiming they had severed all ties with her over the past two years.
He said the case presents unusual challenges because of the fact that the body remained undiscovered for such a long period and neither of the neighbours checked on her or suspected anything.
“Normally when a person dies the corpse starts emanating a foul smell after a few days but in this case even after over a month no one smelt anything that is strange,” said Muhammad Aurangzeb, a spokesperson for the Chippa welfare trust.
“When the police called us to transport the body it was rotting and the smell was unbearable so we have kept it apart from other bodies in our mortuary in a cold storage room,” he said.
DIG Reza said chemical autopsies are being carried out to confirm the cause of death.
This is the second case in recent weeks where an actress has been found dead in her residence, days after her death.
Last month, actress Ayesha Khan was discovered dead in a similar situation in her Karachi apartment in Gulshan-e-Iqbal where she lived alone. She was 84.
Observers say these cases highlight the struggles and problems, including loneliness and estrangement, women face in Pakistan if they pursue a career in the entertainment industry.
Humaira who lived alone had acted in a number of television serials and also in two films.
Sindh minister for culture and tourism Zulfiqar Shah said on Thursday that if no family member claims Humaira's body, his department will arrange a proper burial.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)