Pakistani actress Humaira Asghar Ali was found dead in her Karachi apartment on July 8, 2025, but investigators believe she died approximately nine months earlier, in October 2024. The discovery came after her landlord filed a complaint over unpaid rent, prompting police to enter the apartment where they found her body in an advanced stage of decomposition.
The 32-year-old actress’s remains were discovered by Gizri Police with assistance from a court-appointed bailiff while executing a court order related to unpaid rent dating back to April 2024. Her body was found in the Ittehad Commercial Area of Karachi’s Defence Housing Authority, in a highly decomposed state that was almost skeletal.
Police pieced together the timeline of Ali’s death through multiple sources of evidence. Deputy Inspector General of Police Syed Asad Raza confirmed that her mobile phone’s Call Detail Records showed her last outgoing call was made in October 2024. Neighbors reported last seeing her around September or October of that year, and her electricity was disconnected in October 2024 due to non-payment of bills.
The prolonged delay in discovering her body was explained by several factors. The only other apartment on Ali’s floor was unoccupied until February 2025, meaning no neighbors were present to detect any unusual odors. One of her balcony doors was found open, and by the time some residents returned to the building in February, any smell had already faded. Water pipes in the home were found dry and rusted, while food items had expired months earlier and jars had rusted.
Karachi Police Surgeon Dr. Summaiya Syed conducted the post-mortem examination and confirmed the advanced decomposition. The autopsy revealed that Ali’s internal organs were no longer intact, with only skeletal remains remaining. Parts of the body were entirely devoid of muscle tissue, and bones began to disintegrate upon touch. Her fingers and nails were reduced to bone, and investigators found insects in the remains, particularly in her hair.
Initially, police reported that Ali’s family had refused to claim her body. However, her brother Naveed Asghar later arrived in Karachi on July 11 to take custody of her remains. He denied reports that the family had refused to claim the body and explained that Ali had moved from Lahore to Karachi about seven years earlier and had grown distant from the family. She had not visited them for nearly a year and a half.
A DNA test was conducted as the body was severely decomposed and not visually identifiable. Asghar revealed that his father had initially said that if there was an emergency, they could bury her in Karachi, explaining the family’s earlier reluctance. Ali was finally laid to rest in the Model Town Q Block graveyard in Lahore on July 11 after a sparsely-attended funeral.
The case took an unexpected turn when a citizen named Shahzaib Sohail filed a petition in Karachi’s City Court alleging that Ali had been murdered. He demanded that her family be formally involved in the inquiry and cited alleged video footage from the apartment, along with references to her estranged relationship with her family. The petition prompted the court to instruct police to treat the matter as a potential homicide case.
However, investigators later discovered that the murder petition was filed using a phone number registered under a fictitious identity. The mobile SIM was traced to an elderly woman in a rural area who confirmed she had never authorized such use, casting doubt on the petition’s authenticity.
A haunting voice message allegedly sent by Ali to her close friend Dureshehwar in September 2023 has gone viral on social media. In the audio, she expressed joy at her friend’s pilgrimage to Mecca and requested prayers for her career and well-being. “Mere liye bohot saari tumhe dua karni hai,” she said in the message, asking her friend to pray for her career and remember her in prayers.
Police have recovered three mobile phones and a tablet belonging to Ali, with passwords retrieved from a personal diary found in her home. However, her laptop remains inaccessible. Authorities have recorded statements from two people who were in contact with her and summoned various individuals including the building’s security guard, cleaning staff, her gym trainer, and beauty salon employees.
Ali was known for her appearance on ARY’s reality show “Tamasha Ghar” and her role in the 2015 film “Jalaibee.” She also appeared in “Love Vaccine” in 2021 and received an award for Best Emerging Talent & Rising Star at the National Woman Leadership Awards in 2023. According to her Instagram profile, she was also a theater artist, painter, sculptor, and fitness enthusiast with over 713,000 followers. Her final Instagram post was dated September 30, 2024.
While the exact cause of death remains undetermined pending further forensic results, police have stated that no immediate signs of foul play were found. The apartment’s doors were locked from the inside with no visible signs of forced entry. Authorities await chemical examination and histopathological reports to determine if any criminal activity was involved.
