Marvia Malik, Pakistan’s first transgender news anchor, was shot outside her home in Lahore Cantonment. She claims that while returning from a pharmacy, two attackers opened fire. Though Malik survived the attack, she was traumatized.
In her police statement, Malik stated that she had been receiving threats from unknown numbers. These threats were a result of her vocal support for the rights of transgender people in Pakistan. Many of her adversaries wanted to silence her because of her activism.
Malik had left Lahore previously and relocated to either Islamabad or Multan due to fears for her life. She had returned to Lahore for surgery, and she believes that her activism played a key role in the assassination attempt.
About Marvia Malik
Marvia Malik, born in Lahore in 1997, was bullied in school and became estranged from her family later in life. She aspired to be a lawyer or journalist. To fund her higher studies, she worked as a makeup artist and graduated with a degree in mass media from Punjab University.
In March 2018, she became the first openly transgender person to work as a news anchor on a Pakistani news broadcast for Kohenoor News, which attracted media attention. Malik also previously worked as a model and walked the runway for Pakistan Fashion Design Council. She wants to change society’s treatment of transgender people through her work.
