Brazen murder of 22-year-old Instagram starlet Tara Fares signals frightening new reality for influential Iraqi women
Tara Fares is not the only Iraqi fashion and beauty entrepreneur to have met her death in recent weeks
Over the last few weeks, four go-getting Iraqi women have separately met premature deaths – two falling victim to men firing automatic weapons into their vehicles.
The deaths have sparked fear among women who dare to break the mould and visibly achieve in the conservative country.
The latest to die was 22-year-old social media influencer and model Tara Fares.
Her bloody demise at the wheel of a white Porsche convertible in Baghdad on Thursday has sparked as much debate as her racy photos.
Fares had built an Instagram following of 2.7 million people thanks to edgy fashion shoots, assertive missives and eye-catching, colourful hairstyles.
She also posted publicly about a violent ex-husband and a fiancé who died after being attacked in Istanbul.
But while Fares’ fearless embrace of social media inspired many young Iraqis, it upset traditionalists.