Claim: Folk singer Mai Subhai was shot dead in Dera Bugti, Balochistan.
Fact: The singer died during the 1980s. A letter issued by the Office of the Deputy Commissioner South Dera Bugti also confirmed the recent reports are “incorrect and misleading.”
On 2 September 2026, Pakistani news outlet ARY News posted a news bulletin on their Facebook page reporting the killing of Baloch folk singer Mai Subhai. In the 54-second video, the anchorperson stated that unidentified assailants opened fire on her in Dera Bugti, Balochistan, killing her on the spot. He further reported that the suspects fled the scene.
ARY News’ bulletin on the singer’s killing posted on Facebook.
The video also featured a beeper from the channel’s “Bureau Chief in Quetta” named Mustafa Khan Tareen, who reported that the police are investigating the case and no arrests have been made yet.
Other channels like Dawn and Samaa TV also shared the news on their Facebook pages as well.
Facebook posts by Dawn and Samaa TV on Mai Subhai’s killing.
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check first came across an X post by Gohram Aslam Baloch, an independent journalist based in Turbat, Balochistan. He shared several screenshots of news websites and social media pages reporting on the death of Mai Subhai with a red stamp of ‘Fake News’ over it. The caption reads:
“ملک کے ایک معتبر ترین نیوز پیپر @dawn_com سے لیکر @ARYNEWSOFFICIAL @Intekhabhd تک سب اسی فیک نیوز کو ایسے چلا رہے ہیں جیسا کہ کوئی دوڑ ہو۔ @dawn_com جیسا ادارہ اپنی اسٹوریز کو فیکٹ چیک، ڈبل چیک اورکاؤنٹر چیک کرنےکی عمل سے گزارنے کا دعوی تو کرتا ہے مگر صورتحال یہ ہے۔ “
[Translation: “From one of the country’s most reputable newspapers, @dawn_com, to @ARYNEWSOFFICIAL and @Intekhabhd, everyone is running this fake news as if it were a race. An institution like @dawn_com claims to subject its stories to processes of fact-checking, double-checking, and counter-checking, yet this is the reality.”]
Soch Fact Check reached out to Baloch, who shared that Mai Subhai was a folk singer on PTV during the 1980s and was “reportedly killed” in 1989.
He also shared a copy of a recent letter from the Office of the Deputy Commissioner South Dera Bugti that was addressed to Directorate General Public Relations, Balochistan.
In the document, the DC, named Zohaib-ul-Haq according to the reporter, mentions news channels and newspapers “including ARY News, SAMAA TV, Daily Jang, Connected Pakistan Facebook Page. DAWN News, The EXPRESS TRIBUNE, Urdu Point” who reported on the “alleged killing of a female folk singer in Dera Bugti.”
A copy of DC South Dera Bugti’s letter taking notice of “incorrect and misleading” information about the alleged killing of a female folk singer’s death in Dera Bugti shared by Gohram.
It further reads:
“The said news reports contain factually incorrect and misleading information regarding the incident and its location. The dissemination and repeated broadcasting of such unverified information may create confusion among the public and may adversely affect the image of the district with regard to the law-and-order situation.”
The DC further requests DGPR Balochistan to take up the matter with the “concerned media channels/newspapers at the appropriate level, with directions to verify facts from the competent district administration/police authorities before broadcasting or publishing sensitive news.” The letter, however, did not mention the details about Mai Sabhai’s original year or the nature of her death.
Another freelance journalist Dauran Baloch also told Soch Fact Check that Mai Sabhai was killed in the year 1989. The Quetta-based journalist added that she was slain in the name of honor, in Kandhkot.
Since both journalists mentioned that Mai Subhai originally died in the year 1989, Soch Fact Check tried to find a digital news archive from that time but couldn’t find anything.
Soch Fact Check also contacted the district police office of Dera Bugti where a DPO Operator named Nigah Hussain verified that the singer died around 40 years ago. We inquired if another singer died recently and news outlets mistook her for Mai Subhai, to which Hussain said there have been no recent cases about any singer’s killing.
Moreover, on 4 September, Dawn and Samaa TV published articles debunking the fake news themselves. Both the outlets reported on the DC’s letter and stated that the news initially surfaced on social media and was then picked up by news outlets. Despite this, the false claim is still up on Dawn’s website without a correction while Samaa TV took their article down. However, the false news is still up on both channels’ social media accounts.
Therefore, based on statements from reporters based in Balochistan and an official based in Dera Bugti’s district police office, as well as news articles debunking previous reports, Soch Fact Check confirms that news about Mai Sabhai’s recent killing are incorrect.
Virality
Soch Fact Check first came across a viral Facebook post by ARY News with as many as 4,000 likes and 220 shares. The news was also shared on the Instagram pages of Startup Pakistan, Diva Magazine Pakistan and The Pakistan Doctrine where it received 5,500, 1,700 and 2,600 likes, respectively.
The news was also reported on the websites of Dawn, The Express Tribune and The News.
Conclusion: The reports about the recent killing of Baloch folk singer Mai Subhai’s killing in Dera Bugti are false. The singer died in 1989. Moreover, the Office of the Deputy Commissioner South Dera Bugti issued a letter taking notice of the “incorrect and misleading” information reported by several news outlets regarding her killing.
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