A POPULAR Iraqi TikTok star was shot dead in her car by a gunman posing as a delivery driver, Iraqi security officials said.
Om Fahad, whose real name is Ghufran Sawadi, was murdered outside her home in Baghdad a year after being imprisoned for “crimes against morals.”
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A security source said the attacker, who arrived on a motorcycle, appeared to have pretended to be making a food delivery when he shot the influencer dead.
Om Fahad, who has almost half a million followers on TikTok, became known for upbeat videos of herself dancing to Iraqi music in tight clothing.
The Iraqi government launched a campaign last year to clean up social media content that it said violated Iraqi “morals and traditions.”
A Home Office committee was set up to search TikTok, YouTube and other platforms for clips it deemed offensive.
In February 2023, Fahad was sentenced to six months in prison for sharing videos that a court ruled contained “indecent speech that undermines public modesty and morality.”
Since then, several other high-profile influencers have been arrested, according to authorities.
Just days after Fahad’s sentencing, another TikTok star who went by the name Assal Hossam received an even harsher sentence of two years.
Despite years of war and sectarian conflict after the 2003 US invasion to overthrow Saddam Hussein, Iraq has returned to a semblance of normality.
But civil liberties (for women, sexual minorities, and other groups) remain restricted in conservative society.
In similar circumstances, model and influencer Tara Fares, 22, was shot dead in her car by gunmen in Baghdad in 2018.
It comes as neighboring Iran also faces a terrifying crackdown from its brutal so-called “morality police”.
Earlier this week, it was announced that well-known Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi, 33, had been sentenced to death for supporting anti-regime protests.
She had used her songs to publicly support the wave of “Women, Life, Freedom” protests sparked by the death in custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini.
Amini died in the custody of Tehran’s morality police after being arrested for violating Iran’s hijab rules.
Salehi had bravely criticized Iran’s leaders, railing against their corruption and their crackdown on dissent.
He was sentenced in 2023 to six years and three months in prison, but avoided the death penalty thanks to a ruling from the Supreme Court.
But in January this year, an Isfahan court indicted him on new charges and he has now been sentenced to hanging.
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