TikToker arrested after lioness attacks 19-year-old worker during video shoot, and police uncover an alleged attempt to blame a dog

A 19-year-old Pakistani farm worker was fatally attacked while helping well-known TikToker Nouman Hassan make a video for social media on November 11, 2026. Hassan and the farm’s owner were arrested in connection with the incident.

Hassan, who has over 292,000 followers on TikTok and 2.5 million on Instagram, reportedly visited a private breeding farm in Lahore to film and asked farm worker Taha to help with making the video. According to The Independent, Hassan then allegedly “took the lion out of the cage and started making a video.” That’s when, according to The Daily Mail, the lioness attacked Taha (in front of some of his family members).

Taha was rushed to a nearby hospital but later died from his injuries. Authorities said in a statement on X, “An attempt was made to pass off the lioness attack as a dog attack to conceal the truth.”

This wasn’t Hassan’s first time filming with wild animals

A glance at Hassan’s TikTok page shows numerous videos that include wild cats, both young and adult. Owning giant cats known to attack, such as tigers, jaguars, lions, pumas, and cheetahs, is a symbol of status in Pakistan and is legal as long as a registration fee of 50,000 rupees is paid per animal, which could explain all the animals Hassan has filmed with. These animals are meant to be kept only outside city limits.

According to Zamin, the government began cracking down on big-cat ownership in recent years, particularly with farms, limiting them to no more than ten cats from two species and requiring them to open their sites to the public. It is also reportedly illegal under current wildlife laws to let a large feline out of its cage.

Police are investigating not only Hassan’s role in the incident but also whether the lioness should have been at the farm in the first place. Reportedly, they are looking into whether the farm had the proper ownership permit and safety protocols in place. After the attack, the animal was taken from the farm and handed over to the proper wildlife authorities.

The mauling of Taha was allegedly first passed off as a dog attack

A spokesperson for Lahore Police reportedly said about the incident, “Kahna police have arrested the farm owner and a TikToker in connection with the death of a 19-year-old young man in a lioness attack at a farmhouse. The lioness got out of control in the presence of the TikToker, who had come to the farmhouse to make a TikTok video, leaving a farm employee critically injured. He later died while receiving treatment. An attempt was made to pass off the lioness attack as a dog attack to conceal the truth.”

They also stated, “A passion for TikTok cannot be more important than a human life.”

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