Rabi Pirzada, a Pakistani pop singer and TV host, has announced her decision to quit showbusiness after her nude pictures and videos were leaked online on Friday.
She became one of the top trends in Pakistan for more than 24 hours following the lewd leak, and even though the clips have now been taken down, they remained on public display for over a day.
The pop singer took to Twitter today to announce that she's leaving the entertainment industry while seeking forgiveness from God. She also urged people to keep her in their hearts despite her recording the explicit videos.
“I, Rabi Pirzada am quitting showbiz. May Allah forgive my sins. And soften the hearts of people in my favour,” read her tweet in Urdu.
The nude pictures and videos appeared to be taken by herself in the mirror, and prompted a debate on social media with several people criticising her for filming the videos while others urged the singer to stay strong.
Yesterday, several people shared their semi-nude pictures on Twitter and Facebook to show solidarity with the singer. The campaign was called as #IamRabiPirzada.
The leak also triggered various theories by social media users, speculating on the reason behind it.
Several said that she is a victim of revenge porn, while many others went as far as to speculate on foul play by Pakistani army spokesperson Asif Ghafoor as Rabi previously criticised Ghafoor for defending the item song that features actress Neelam Muneer Khan.
The item song was a project funded by the media wing of the Pakistan Armed Forces but it faced a massive backlash online due to its lyrics.
A human rights activist and lawyer warned people against sharing her leaked pictures and video as it is a crime to do so. She urged people to not be a silent bystander, saying that they should report the tweets.
The singer has been targeting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi ever since India revoked Jammu and Kashmir's special status in August and decided to bifurcate it into two federally administered territories. Most recently, she took aim at Modi by sharing a picture of herself wearing a suicide vest and threatening to kill him the Indian leader in a suicide attack.