Claim: During a medical test, it was found that Dr Mahrang Baloch is transgender.
Fact: There is no evidence to support the claim that Dr Mahrang Baloch is transgender.
On 23 March, a day after Dr Mahrang Baloch’s arrest in Quetta, a post on X (formerly Twitter) claimed that she was transgender.
The post was made from an account by the name of Ahsan Chatha, with the handle @SIYASIDERA. The X user posts numerous videos in which he speaks about political events and developments in Pakistan. Additionally, on 24 March, the user also posted a short video of himself in which he made the same claim about Dr Baloch’s gender identity.
Dr Mahrang Baloch detained
On 21 March 2025, the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC), led by human rights activist Dr Mahrang Baloch, staged a “sit-in on the Sariab Road, near University of Balochistan”. This sit-in was held in response to the arrest of several BYC members, including senior member Beebarg Baloch. To dispel protestors, police used water cannons, tear gas, and fired blank shots. According to Dr Mahrang Baloch, three protestors lost their lives and 13 others were injured. Ten police personnel were also reported injured by a spokesperson of the Balochistan government.
Later at night, at 11:30 pm, Dr Baloch announced a province-wide shutter-down strike against the police violence that occurred during the day. The following day, on 22 March 2025, at 5:30 am, the BYC leader was arrested in a pre-dawn raid by security forces. Dawn later reported that 16 other activists were also arrested in the raid, and all 17 had been moved to Quetta district jail.
The same day, police registered an FIR at Sariab Police Station against Dr Baloch and “150 others”, including “key BYC leaders”. The FIR charged them with numerous offences including “terrorism, murder and attempted murder, incitement to violence and rebellion, creating disorder and promoting racial hatred, and property damage”. It also cited BYC protestors storming Quetta’s Civil Hospital and “forcibly taking away bodies” from the morgue as a reason for the arrest.
Another FIR, registered at Civil Lines Police Station, accused BYC protestors of not only storming Civil Hospital but also claimed they “intercepted a private ambulance at Hockey Chowk, assaulted the driver and loaded the bodies into the vehicle”. A third FIR was registered at Brewery Police Station against prominent BYC leaders and “100 others” for “blocking the Western Bypass Road in Quetta on Saturday, chanting anti-state slogans and inciting public unrest”. However, it is unclear if Dr Mahrang Baloch was named in this FIR.
On 23 March, it was reported that despite the passage of 24 hours since her arrest, Dr Mahrang had not been produced in court or given access to legal counsel. Relatives were not allowed to meet her or deliver food to her either, the report stated. On 25 March, the Balochistan High Court (BHC) allowed relatives of Dr Mahrang to meet her in jail. Despite this, jail authorities allegedly stopped her sister, Nadia Baloch, for three hours before allowing them to meet..
Fact or Fiction?
A Google search for “Mahrang Baloch transgender” was conducted to see if the claim was true. However, no news reports on this matter were found.
A reverse-image search of the picture in the claim revealed that it surfaced on X and Facebook on 23 March 2025, a day after the arrest of Dr Mahrang Baloch in Quetta. Several of the accounts on X and Facebook shared the post in the claim by Ahsan Chatha.
Some users on X alleged that Chatha’s account has ties to the PML-N and may be part of an attempt to malign the BYC leader. A user initially made the claim here, which was later quoted and validated by prominent journalist Ahmad Noorani. Other users alleged the same on X here, here, here, here and here.
To verify this claim, Soch Fact Check scrutinsed the followers of Ahsan Chatha on X and many, in fact, turned out to be the accounts of PML-N workers, supporters, and activists. These can be seen here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.
Moreover, a post on X alleged that Ahsan Chatha holds an official position in the PML-N and is “president PML Ireland”. Searching on Google for “PML-N Ireland” led us to the Facebook page of the political party’s operations in Ireland. The page turned out to have numerous videos of Chatha speaking about political developments in the country. A post on this Facebook page from 2021, shows Ahsan Chatha on a video call, and is titled “President PMLN Ireland”. The post’s caption refers to him as the same in Urdu: “صدر مسلم لیگ ن آئیرلینڈ احسان چٹھہ”, suggesting that Chatha does in fact hold an official role within the PML-N.
Many of the videos on this page also have an anti-PTI stance as well, showing the bias and lack of credible reporting on Chatha’s part.
Scrolling through Chatha’s X account, Soch Fact Check found that this is not the first time Chatha has peddled a claim against Dr Mahrang Baloch without any supporting evidence. We found videos where he claimed, without presenting any evidence, that Dr Baloch is an Indian agent and that she has three bank accounts with a total of 76 crore Pakistani rupees in them.
Since Dr Baloch’s arrest, similar unfounded claims alleging her ties with India and her wealth have surfaced on X. However, they lack any credible evidence and, therefore, only appear to be rumours or conspiracy theories peddled by supporters of a political party.
Simply searching for “Mahrang Baloch” led to a number of these posts. One accused her of being associated with the BLA, or the Indian and Israeli governments. Another accused her of being a terrorist from the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and that she is “quite a privileged citizen by all the [sic] means”.
With regards to her wealth, another post alleged that she has 76 crore rupees to her name. It was also claimed that she completed her medical education “with full government funding” and “monthly stipends” and that she continues to benefit from “state salaries”. These claims are not supported by evidence. For example, the latter shows her biodata on an application form for Bolan Medical College, Quetta, but there is no written evidence on it of her benefitting from stipends or government funding. Moreover, both these claims were made by X users who are followed by accounts that spread misinformation we have fact-checked in the past. These accounts can be seen here, here, here, and here. From the posts of the first two accounts, it is also clear that they are focussed on discrediting the PTI and are more oriented towards the PML-N, much like Ahsan Chatha’s X account.
The photo in the claim appears to be part of this larger campaign that levels accusations against Dr Mahrang Baloch without clear evidence. There is no credible evidence to support the statement that Dr Mahrang Baloch is a transgender person or that any medical test proves the same. Hence, Soch Fact Check rates this claim as false.
Virality
On Facebook, the claim was found here, here, and here.
On X, the claim was found here and here.
On Instagram, the claim was found here.
Conclusion: Dr Mahrang Baloch is not transgender. The claim does not provide any evidence to support its statement, and there is no other credible report or evidence corroborating it either. The claim was peddled by a pro-PML-N account, and it appears to be part of a larger campaign to malign Dr Mahrang Baloch in light of the state’s recent crackdown against the BYC in Balochistan.
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Background image in cover photo: Geo News
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