Death of Sania Khan

Sania Khan (1993–July 18, 2022) was a Pakistani American photographer and first-generation child of Pakistani Muslim immigrants, raised in Chattanooga, Tennessee. She graduated from the Chattanooga School for the Arts & Sciences and later from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga, where she double-majored in psychology and women's studies.

Khan married Raheel Ahmad in June 2021 after about five years of dating, and the couple moved to Chicago. According to friends, Khan changed after the marriage, and Ahmad reportedly had mental breakdowns and made threats to kill himself. In December 2021, Khan filed for divorce; Ahmad subsequently moved to Alpharetta, Georgia, while Khan remained in Chicago. A final divorce hearing had been scheduled for August 2022.

During the divorce process, Khan began sharing her experience on TikTok, describing the stigma surrounding divorce and domestic violence in South Asian communities and stating she felt she owed it to herself and other women of color to speak publicly. She had accumulated more than 20,000 followers by the time of her death. At the time she died, Khan was in the process of moving back to Chattanooga.

On July 18, 2022, one of Ahmad's relatives reported him missing to Alpharetta police, who contacted Chicago police to conduct a welfare check at Khan's residence. Ahmad had traveled from Alpharetta to Chicago, where police say he shot Khan in the back of the head. When police arrived, Ahmad was found with a 9mm Glock handgun, a suicide note, and a head wound; he had shot himself. He was taken to Northwestern Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.

Khan's funeral was held on July 28, 2022, with costs covered through a GoFundMe campaign that raised more than $36,000. Remaining funds were originally intended for two South Asian anti-domestic-violence organizations, Sakhi for South Asian Women and the Peaceful Families Project, though the organizer ultimately returned the funds following conflict with Khan's family.

Khan's death prompted an international conversation among South Asian social media communities about gender-based domestic violence and the cultural stigmatization of divorce. A candlelight vigil was held in her honor at her former high school on July 24, 2022, and friends established the Sania Khan Memorial Scholarship Fund for female students pursuing fine arts degrees. On October 3, 2022, Khan's family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against her apartment building, alleging it allowed Ahmad entry despite his having been banned as a known serious threat. The case was later featured in a documentary series covering crimes connected to TikTok.