Senior journalist Shaheen Sehbai passed away due to mpox

Rating Justification

The iVerify Pakistan team has reviewed this content and determined that it is false.

To reach this conclusion, the iVerify Pakistan team investigated the circulating news graphic via a reverse image search and checked the official account of the senior journalist.

Some users shared a news graphic on social media platform X on August 27, 2024, claiming that senior journalist Shaheen Sehbai died due to the infectious mpox disease. However, Sehbai himself addressed and debunked the fallacious information.

Shaheen Sehbai is a former editor of the leading English publication The News International. In May 2024, an Islamabad Anti-Terrorism Court ordered the reopening of a sedition case against him and others that was filed in 2023 for creating social media content aimed at inciting mutiny within the armed forces.

HOW IT STARTED

On August 27, political comedian and content creator Mustafa Chaudhary posted an image of a news graphic from digital media platform Siasat.pk announcing Sehbai’s death due to mpox.

The post gained over 83,000 views.

Ahmad Waqass Goraya, a Pakistani-born dissident blogger, also commented under the shared post without verifying the claim.

Another X user, who appears to be a PTI supporter, also reshared the same post about Sehbai’s death.

The post was seen by over 40,000 viewers.

A self-described social activist, who also appeared to be critical of the PTI, also posted the same news graphic and gained 76,400 views on X.

METHODOLOGY

A fact check was initiated to determine the veracity of the claim due to its virality and the nature of the alleged development despite no mainstream coverage of it.

A reverse image search conducted to find the origin of the news graphic yielded nothing and neither did Siasat.pk share anything related to it on its social media platforms and pages.

Checking Sehbai’s official X account for any post regarding his alleged death instead yielded an August 28 post in which he personally responded to one of the viral posts and denounced the claim about his death.

The caption of his post said: “This post has been reported to X-Twitter as false, fake and malicious. I am fine.”

He has also since August 27 continued to post regularly on his X account.

Additionally, Muhammad Atif, a journalist at Voice of America Urdu, also responded to Chaudhary’s post and said: “I don’t understand how some people spread false news about others’ deaths. I just spoke with Shaheen Sehbai, who is in good health and praying for guidance for those spreading lies.”

FACT-CHECK STATUS: FALSE

The claim regarding the death of senior journalist Shaheen Sehbai due to the mpox disease is false.

The journalist himself addressed the rumours and shot them down, confirming that his health was fine.

Evidence and References

August 28, 2024, X post of senior journalist Shaheen Sehbai:
https://perma.cc/L5MX-QXWH