Posts from users on multiple social media platforms since Monday alleged that TikToker Mashal Khan and his wife Meena Khan from Peshawar were shot dead. However, both are still alive and well.

A day ago, 17-year-old social media influencer Sana Yousaf was shot dead at her home by an unidentified man who entered her house and shot her in the chest. She was popular on TikTok and Instagram, with over a million combined followers

Today, a user on X claimed that TikTok influencer Mashal Khan and his wife Meena Khan had been shot dead.

The caption of the post said: “Peshawar TikTokers Mashal Khan and his wife Meena Khan were shot dead, while Chitral TikToker Sana Yousaf was also killed in Islamabad.”

The user made derogatory remarks, blaming people from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and a specific Muslim sect for the incidents.

The post was viewed over 17,200 times.

The same claim was shared by other users as can be seen here, here and here on X, and here and here on Facebook.

A fact-check was initiated to determine the veracity of the claim in light of its nature and timing, coinciding with the 17-year-old Yousaf’s killing with keen public interest in the matter.

Mashal and Meena have separate TikTok accounts, with 90,000 and 1.1 million followers, respectively. The couple is known for creating videos together, often set to Pashto songs.

A keyword search for “TikToker”, “Mashal Khan”, “Meena Khan” and “dead” yielded no results from any credible national or local news outlets that covered the alleged murder.

Reviewing their TikTok accounts to check for recent activity showed that the accounts posted many videos on Monday and Tuesday

Furthermore, a June 2 video was found on Mashal’s TikTok account where the couple addressed and debunked the viral rumour.

According to Dawn correspondent Zahid Imdad, they said they intended to take legal action against those responsible for spreading the false rumours and would be filing a complaint with the Federal Investigation Agency’s Cybercrime Wing today.

The couple said the false rumour caused panic and distress within their family, prompting relatives to rush to their home and call them repeatedly.

“This entire situation disturbed us deeply and caused mental stress,” Meena said in the video.

Therefore, the fact-check determined that the claim that social media influencer Peshawari couple Mashal and Meena were shot dead around the same time as the similar murder of Yousaf in Islamabad is false. The couple is still alive and well.

This fact check was originally published by iVerify Pakistan — a project of CEJ-IBA and UNDP.