Islamabad , Pakistan ( CNN ) Her second floor cafe on a dusty industrial road was painted with dashes of psychedelic colors . And Sabeen Mahmud surrounded herself there with books , people , and discussions on technology , human rights and women 's entrepreneurship . Introducing others to Jimi Hendrix , street art , and talking politics was not supposed to get her killed . But in Pakistan , free speech is dangerous , and Mahmud 's exuberant exercise of it made her stick out nationwide . Two gunman shot her dead at point-blank range late Friday after she locked up The Second Floor cafe in Karachi for the night , police said . Mahmud died from five bullet wounds . The gunmen also shot her mother . She is in a hospital but is expected to be released on time for her daughter 's funeral . Mahmud 's killing broke hearts beating for non-violence and progressive values across the country . She freely said what she thought in a place where many people are too afraid to and by doing so spoke for many more people than just herself . She had become a Pakistani figurehead for humanism , love and tolerance . `` She took that torch into the dark forest and so many people followed . She really , truly was a success story of the heart , '' said close friend and BBC journalist Ziad Zafar . No one has claimed responsibility for her shooting , and police have not named any motive . But Mahmud had just finished leading a discussion group on a topic that many want silenced , when the shots fell . In the province of Baluchistan , where separatists have fought a virulent insurgency for years , people have been disappearing regularly . There have been steady allegations of mass abduction . The Lahore University of Management Sciences planned to host the discussion on the topic , with human rights activist Mama Qadeer Baloch , but authorities shut it down . Mahmud would not hear of it not going on . `` Despite the plurality of opinion , very little space seems to be given to the discussion in Pakistani mainstream media or academia ; the debate seems to be shut down before it can even begin , '' she posted on Facebook . `` What is the reality ? Has the media been silenced on Balochistan ? What makes it dangerous for us to talk about Pakistan 's largest province at one of our most celebrated universities ? '' She invited the discussion to The Second Floor , also known by the shorthand T2F . She said she knew it was a potentially dangerous move , and she had received death threats in the past when she handled the topic before . `` She was the bravest woman in the world , she really was , she was a brave heart ; my God , she was a brave , brave girl , '' Zafar said . Even in its secluded , humble location , T2F was a magnet to those seeking secular wisdom . They found it in a homey setting , musingly decorated like a small town college bookstore . The walls outside its entrance are sprayed with socially critical graffiti -- dusky red hearts float across gray walls . Mahmud waited to greet visitors , many of them young Pakistanis seeking freedom of thought , with a hug , a mug and encouragement for Pakistan 's future . `` She hoped the same thing we all hoped for , a place that is fair with liberty and justice for all , '' Zafar said . Grief over her death and gratefulness for her work poured out on social media and via email . `` Thanks for giving us the room to breathe when fog pressed heavy on our shoulders . It 's only been a few hours , Sabeen , and the city is already gasping for air , '' a group of illustrators called From Karachi with Love wrote . An artist drew Mahmud puttering off on a Vespa scooter wearing pants , a blouse and sandals . Her tightly coiffed short hair and angular glasses framed her bright-eyed features . Missing was a head scarf . On a wall in T2F is a spray painted Technicolor image of Marilyn Monroe from `` the Seven Year Itch , '' her white dress replaced by a traditional outfit of mustard , ocher and green . But it still flew up over her hips , revealing her alabaster legs , a daringly sexy and satirical image . The artistic expression sticks out and triggers passions , like many things Mahmud said and did .
She hosted a controversial discussion on the disappearance of people . She knew what she was doing was dangerous and had received death threats before . Mahmud loved books , Ziad Zafar and discussions about human rights .