WATCH: Influencer Accused of Setting Forest Ablaze for TikTok Video Currently Under Investigation
Amid soaring temperatures in Pakistan, a TikTok content creator set social media in flames after a desperate cry for attention.
Humaira Asghar (@DollyOfficiall) posted the video of her strutting confusedly in a vintage wedding dress while the forest around her burned to a crisp. The video was posted on her account which has over 11 million followers.
Pakistani social media star #HumairaAsghar slammed for posting a TikTok video on forest fire .
She posted a clip of herself walking teasingly in a silver gown while the hillside burns.#Pakistan pic.twitter.com/cGQ7SmRrg3
— PURUSHOTTAM SINGH (@singhpuru2202) May 19, 2022
The 11 second-clip was supposedly recorded in the Margalla Hills National Park with the caption, “fire erupts wherever I am.” The posting was removed shortly after for violating TikTok’s community guidelines.
The Islamabad police filed a report over the video and are investigating whether Asghar violated the country’s wildlife and environmental-protection laws.
“The area is part of Margalla Hills National Park which has reported multiple incidents of wildfires recently which damaged the ecosystem,” the report said, per The News.
The slopes where the video was shot are an extension of the Himalayan mountains and home to numerous endangered species and animals. They are home to 600 plant species, 250 bird species, 38 animals, and 13 reptile species.
An official from Pakistan’s Wildlife Management Board shared the video on Twitter and called it a “disturbing and catastrophic trend” on the TikTok platform.
This is a disturbing & disastrous trend on Tik Tok! Young people desperate 4 followers are setting fire to our forests during this hot & dry season! In Australia it is lifetime imprisonment for those who start wildfires. We need to introduce similar legislation @WildlifeBoard pic.twitter.com/RGMXnbG9f1
— Rina S Khan Satti (@rinasaeed) May 17, 2022
Asghar however, isn’t the first Pakistani TikToker accused of lighting a forest ablaze for cheap publicity.
Earlier this month, a man in Abbottabad was detained for purposefully causing a forest fire to utilise it as a background in his film. In another newly leaked video, two guys seem to ignite a forest fire before fleeing from it while music plays in the background.
مارگلہ کے جنگلات میں آگ لگانے والے جوانوں کی ویڈیو سامنے آگئی@ahsanpsp @dcislamabad pic.twitter.com/7Ke0znzms8
— sajid sheikh (@sajidsheikh321) May 16, 2022
According to the 2020 Global Climate Risk Index released by the NGO Germanwatch, Pakistan is the seventh most susceptible nation to the climate problem. The nation is now suffering an extraordinary heatwave, with temperatures surpassing 50 degrees Celsius in certain areas.
For a nation where a record-breaking heatwave has hit, setting fire to a national forest would sound like the worst trend to start but content creators are asserting their dominance and proving that aliens would not invade us for our intelligence anytime soon.