Human rights activist Sabeen Mahmud shot dead in Karachi

She was a social activist who provided a space for people to speak freely in Pakistan, and now her own voice has been permanently silenced. Sabeen Mahmud was shot dead in Karachi on Friday after a leaving an event at her arts cafe. The event was a panel discussion entitled "Unsilencing Balochistan."

Mahmud, 40,  was a human rights activist, well-known for her fearlessness. She owned an arts space in Karachi called The Second Floor, or T2F, where she often hosted discussions on a wide range of topics.

She was shot at least four times after driving away from the cafe Friday night. Her mother was also shot and is recovering in hospital.

Fahad Desmukh is a journalist and close friend of Mahmud. He says he was concerned when he heard she was hosting Friday's event.

"I was worried about her safety but I really never thought that the consequences of it would be this dire. This is something that I just never imagined," says Desmukh.

"Unsilencing Balochistan" was an interactive discussion about the insurgency in Balochistan province. The event included activist Mama Abdul Qadeer, who has been campaigning on behalf of the hundreds of people missing from the province, allegedly at the hands of the state security apparatus.

The event was originally supposed to be held on a university campus, but was cancelled by the state.

"Sabeen said she would host this event at the cultural space she was running in Karachi. Sabeen has already been facing threats from various actors, and the issue is a particularly sensitive one. There have been many activists who've gone missing from Balochistan. But here is someone who is quite a high profile individual in mainstream Pakistan, and so it was really surprising that someone like her became a target as well," says Desmukh.

Citing safety concerns, Desmukh was reluctant to speculate about who was behind her death. There is no hard proof, but there is speculation that the state may have played a role.

"She has always wanted that [cafe] to be used primarily by people and issues and voices that don't get a voice and don't get space elsewhere in society. She generally felt that people have a right to know what's going on, people have a right to discuss, people have a right to ask questions. That's just the kind of person that she was."