KARACHI: When the decomposed body of Pakistani actress Humaira Asghar was discovered in her Karachi apartment earlier this month, it had been at least nine months since she passed away.

The 42-year-old, originally from Lahore, had moved to Karachi to pursue her acting career and had been living alone for nearly seven years. 

Ali’s remains were finally found at a flat in the city’s Ittehad Commercial area when a court bailiff arrived to vacate the rented property, following a complaint by the landlord due to non-payment of rent for months. Police said the bailiff broke open the door and found the deceased inside. The apartment’s electricity had been cut off and food in the fridge had expired months earlier.

Authorities now believe Ali likely died of natural or accidental causes in October 2024, and no one realized.

Her case has stirred uncomfortable conversations in Pakistan about the silent toll of urban isolation, especially in large cities like Karachi, where rapid expansion, changing family structures and weakening community bonds are quietly reshaping how people live — and die.

Deputy Inspector General of Karachi police, Syed Asad Raza, said Asghar had shown signs of severe financial distress before her death.

“She was struggling to revive her career while socially disconnected from family and friends,” Raza told Arab News. “We also found evidence indicating that, shortly before her death, she had reached out to several of her friends seeking financial help.”

Last month, the body of veteran actress Ayesha Khan was also discovered in her Karachi apartment, around a week after her death. Welfare groups like the Edhi Foundation say such cases are rising, though comprehensive national data is lacking.

“There has definitely been an increase in this,” said Faisal Edhi, chairman of the charity, which frequently recovers unclaimed bodies. “Now we have started finding individual bodies and in large numbers.”

URBAN MIGRATION, SHRINKING SAFETY NETS

According to World Bank estimates, nearly 44 percent of Pakistanis now live in urban areas, up from 35 percent in 2010. 

“Maybe 50 years ago, 70 percent of people were living in villages. Now nearly 70 percent or more are in large cities,” Sociologist Dr. Fateh Muhammad Burfat, former vice chancellor of Sindh University, said, linking the rise in unattended deaths to the collapse of traditional village-based social safety nets.

“So this is not only a change from rural life to urban life, but a change in our whole social life.”

Indeed, mental health experts warn that loneliness isn’t just a social issue but a serious health risk. 

Karachi-based psychiatrist Prof. Dr. M. Iqbal Afridi cited WHO findings that over 870,000 people died globally in 2024 due to conditions linked to extreme isolation.

“In fact, loneliness has been found to be more painful and damaging than conditions like diabetes or high blood pressure,” he said. “It has also been observed that people who get disconnected from their friends, family and social circles often develop several diseases along with physical, psychological and social issues.”

“BIGGEST CON”

In the wake of Ali’s death, many are asking: why didn’t the industry check in on its own?

Model and actor Zainab Raza, who moved from Lahore to Karachi in 2020, described living alone as “the biggest con” of independence.

“It’s not necessary that everyone has family or friends who check in on them,” she said. “You can find people who also need that support, and you can be there for each other.”

After Asghar’s death, a group of actors in Karachi created a WhatsApp support group called Connectivity 101, where members check in on each other daily via simple polls.

“Maybe if such groups and support systems existed when Humaira was around, things would have been a lot better,” Raza said. “Maybe she would have been with us today.”

Burfat, the sociologist, said women who were financially well-off but independent did not face the same level of social security issues as Ali, “who had been unable to pay her rent, whose electricity was cut off, and whose parents were also not supporting her.”

“So, the world we have now entered,” he said, “these types of incidents will keep happening.”