TikTok Influencer Arrested After Tiger Kills 19-Year-Old During Video Shoot; Police Investigate Alleged Cover-Up

A TikTok influencer has been arrested in Lahore after a tigress mauled a 19-year-old farm worker to death during a video shoot. Police are investigating claims that his death was passed off as a dog attack.

Lahore police announced on Thursday 12 November that they had detained TikToker Noman Hassan and the farm's owner, Fayyaz, alias Faizi. Police said Hassan kept two of his own lions at the property.

The victim, Talha Munir, worked there as a caretaker. His father and brother were also employed at the farm, local media reported.

According to police, Hassan took the tigress out of its cage at about 5 p.m. on Wednesday, 11 November and asked Talha to appear in his video. The animal turned on the teenager, leaving deep wounds to his neck and back.

Police said Hassan drove him to a private hospital, where he died during treatment.

Lahore Tiger Attack: How the Dog Story Unravelled

The hospital was told Talha had been bitten by a dog, police said, without naming who gave that account. His parents were told the same and were initially reluctant to register a case, local media reported.

Investigators later obtained a recorded conversation between the farm owner and Talha's father, Munir Ahmed, that exposed the tigress attack. When officers reached the farm, its CCTV cameras and digital video recorder were missing, according to local reports.

'An attempt was made to pass off the tigress attack as a dog attack to conceal the truth,' Lahore Police said in a statement on X. Some Pakistani outlets have reported that the animal was a lioness.

The case was registered on the father's complaint under sections 289 and 322 of the Pakistan Penal Code and the Punjab Wildlife Act. Section 289 covers negligence with animals. Section 322 covers unintentionally causing a death through an unlawful act and carries liability for diyat, or compensation, to the victim's heirs.

Local media reported that an unnamed third suspect was later detained.

Lahore's Deputy Inspector General of Operations, Faisal Kamran, said the farm's licence had expired in 2025. Authorities have sealed the farmhouse, handed the tigress to the Punjab Wildlife Department, and seized 33 lions from the site.

Wildlife Department Gives a Conflicting Account

The Punjab Wildlife Department has described the attack differently, saying Talha was attacked while feeding the animal inside its cage, in breach of safety rules.

It added that the farm's carnivore section had been sealed since January 2026, although staff were still allowed in to care for the animals.

Police maintain the tigress was taken out for the TikTok video.

Punjab Tightened Big Cat Rules After Earlier Attacks

In January 2025, a man was badly hurt by a lion while filming a TikTok video at another breeding farm in Lahore. That month, Punjab's cabinet brought lions, tigers, cheetahs, pumas, and jaguars under the Wildlife Act 1974, requiring licences and banning their promotion on social media.

Two eight-year-olds were hurt in separate lion attacks in the city in January 2026. Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz then ordered that permission to keep big cats be revoked, the Punjab government said.

Talha's body was sent for a post-mortem examination. Police said they are still examining the tigress's ownership permit, safety arrangements at the farm, and possible negligence.