The National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) launched an investigation into the famous fashion designer Maria B, following a complaint according to which her publications on social networks constituted a speech of hatred targeting the transgender community.
The complaint, filed by Naeem Butt (also known as Seema Butt), alleys that Maria B spread the harmful pesting rhetoric, emotionally injuring the community. It was summoned to appear before the NCCIA on August 26, the authorities warning that non-compliance will be treated as a confiscation of its right to a defense.
The investigation follows from a video article in Maria B in which she sentenced a private transgender meeting to Lahore as “non -Islamic”, urging provincial authorities to take measures.
Earlier, Lahore police arrested transgender people on what they called a “reprehensible” rally and had charged them under obscenity clauses. The arrests were then dismissed by a magistrate, which cited the lack of evidence, no testimony of eyewitnesses, missing raid authorizations and concluded that the allegations seemed manufactured.
Learn more: Maria B meant a legal opinion by a Turkish influencer for unpaid contributions
Trans activist, Nayyab Ali, responded to the controversy by clarifying that the participants in the meeting were not involved in the Trans rights movement, questioning Maria B’s decision to amplify the video. Observers warn that waves morality laws can be armed to unjustly target vulnerable communities.
In parallel, Maria B also faces a legal dispute with a Turkish influencer or Türkan Atay influencer, who challenged the unpaid contributions of a campaign shoot led earlier this year in Türkiye. Atay has sent a legal notice requiring $ 8,000 payment, as well as compensation for emotional distress and legal costs.
Maria B had previously aroused a public debate in February when she brutally criticized the “march of unsuccessful women” which was held during the national day of Pakistan for women, calling it “qaum-e-lout”. She said that the Pakistani company had already rejected the movement and suggested that its organizers had been pushed by external funding and hidden patterns.
