It was with videos showing her own routine, making food donations and dancing in clothes considered fair in the country that Iraqi Om Fahad became known and reached more than 400 thousand followers on the social network TikTok.
In February last year, Fahad was sentenced to six months in prison for sharing, according to the court that sentenced her, “videos containing indecent speech that undermine modesty and public morality.”
This came shortly after the country launched a government committee to monitor social media for content deemed offensive and punish those responsible in a declared effort to safeguard “morals and family traditions” in Iraqi society.
Fahad had been recording videos on TikTok since 2021. In many of them she used the jaguar and crown emojis, which became a kind of brand for the influencer. She recorded videos showing her hair changes, driving and, sometimes, handing out food to children.
According to the BBC, Fahad had a rivalry with another influencer in the country because of plastic surgery.
Fahad was shot while in her car, parked outside the influencer’s house in the Zayne neighborhood, east of the capital. A person on a motorcycle shot the influencer.
A video from security cameras shows when a man arrives on a motorcycle, starts from the vehicle and walks until he reaches Fahad’s car. He then opens the door and shoots the woman. Then, the man returns to where the motorcycle was parked and runs away.
A person who works in the country’s security forces told the AFP news agency that the man appeared to be pretending to make a food delivery. According to local media, another woman was injured in the attack.
Iraq’s Interior Ministry said it was investigating the case.
