Beloved TV anchor shot dead by husband

Rabia Ahsan, a program host for 92 News, was found dead in the bedroom of her Rawalpindi home around 3 p.m. local time on Sunday, November 8, according to Rawalpindi City Police cited by multiple outlets. Her mother and sister were outside at the time; after hearing a gunshot, her sister ran in to find Ahsan lying "in a pool of blood" on the floor, with a gunshot wound below the neck and on the right side of her back, per a police report obtained by Times of India, NDTV and Samaa. Family members allegedly found her husband, Ahsan Tahir Khan, standing inside the bedroom holding a firearm. Ahsan's brother, Khurram Ahmed, filed a complaint accusing his brother-in-law of killing his sister, prompting an investigation. Khan, identified as a civil service officer at the Overseas Pakistanis Foundation, was taken into custody after allegedly confessing he accidentally fired the weapon while claiming he did not know it was loaded, according to Samaa and Dawn News. A male domestic worker also told police that Khan said the shooting was accidental. The Punjab Forensic Science Authority recovered a .30-bore pistol and ammunition from the scene, and Ahsan's body was sent for a postmortem examination. The couple had been married for about 16 years and had two daughters, aged 13 and 11. Ahsan had posted a YouTube video discussing American politics the same day as her death. Pakistan's First Lady Aseefa Bhutto-Zardari expressed deep sadness on X, calling for a "thorough, impartial and transparent investigation" and voicing concern over a "disturbing pattern" of professional women being killed by their husbands in the same metropolitan area, referencing the case of media executive Hina Javed, who was found dead with signs of torture three months earlier. The New York Post reported there was no known history of domestic violence between the couple. Police are preparing to pursue a murder case against Khan, and authorities seized the suspected weapon.