Sania Khan: The fight against the stigma of divorce on TikTok ended tragically
DATE July 21 was the day Sania Khan, 29, was supposed to leave Chicago, Illinois and the trauma of her marriage, to start a new life in her native Chattanooga.
But that day, only her body returned to her family home in Tennessee.
Three days before that, Khan was found unconscious near the front door of the condominium in Chicago that she once lived with her husband, Raheel Ahmad. There was a gunshot wound to the back of her head and she was pronounced dead at the scene.
When the police arrived, Ahmad shot himself dead.
According to a police report shared with the Chicago Sun-Times , the couple was going through a divorce and Ahmad, who lived in a different state after separating from Khan, returned “to save their marriage”.
The death was the final tragic chapter in the life of Khan, a young Pakistani-American photographer who became a voice for women fighting the trauma of marriage and the stigma of divorce in the South Asian community on the TikTok platform.
On Instagram, Khan describes her interest in photography with a bio that reads “I help people fall in love with themselves and each other in front of the camera.”
Khan photographs weddings, births, baby showers and other important events, usually for a hefty fee but she also does it for her friends.
Not only in photos, Khan also finds the same joy in reality. After dating Ahmad for five years, they got married in June 2021 and moved to Chicago.
“They had a massive Pakistani-style wedding, but the marriage was built on lies and manipulation,” says a friend.
Khan’s friends claim that Ahmad has had mental problems for a long time. The couple was in a long-distance relationship before marriage, which, according to friends, may have obscured the extent of their incompatibility.
Problems began last December when Khan told a friend that Ahmad was having a mental health crisis and that she felt unsafe.
With the support of her friends, Khan filed for divorce, with a hearing set to take place in August to finalize the separation.
She also filed a restraining order and changed the locks on her house.
At the same time, she began sharing her story on TikTok, describing herself as a “scapegoat” in her community.
“Going through divorce as a South Asian woman makes you feel like a failure in life,” she said in one post.
At the time of her death, her TikTok account had over 20,000 followers.
Bisma Parvez, 35, a Pakistani-American Muslim woman, is one of them.
“Women in these situations are often told to be patient but in a relationship like this, patience is not the answer.
“We always tell women to protect themselves, but it’s also important to teach boys to respect women,” said Parvez.
source – Agency
