Moroccan Chaâbi Icon Cheikha Tsunami Dies at 45, Poisoning Suspected

What were the causes of the death of Imane Bahiji alias Cheikha Tsunami? On the instructions of King Mohammed VI, she had been transferred on September 27 to the Military Hospital in Rabat, where she passed away on Tuesday. According to her manager Oussama, she was a victim of poisoning. A month earlier, she had been admitted to the intensive care unit of a private clinic in Casablanca. The singer had even declared to a media outlet that it was the third time she had been a victim of poisoning, but that this time it was "unprecedented". Thanks to a royal intervention, the hospitalization costs, which would amount to more than 250,000 dirhams, as well as the accommodation costs of her daughter and her sister, Sara, had been paid.

In a statement to the news site Hnews, her sister claimed that Cheikha Tsunami died from cancer that was ravaging her. Information confirmed by the Arabic-language daily Assabah, which specifies that she "had been suffering in silence for some time", after the appearance of metastases throughout her body. Hence her emergency admission to a private clinic in Casablanca at the end of August. As her health deteriorated, she was transferred to the military hospital in Rabat.

Cheikha Tsunami was born an orphan of a father in 1978 in Marrakech. At the age of 15, she left the ochre city for Casablanca. Supported by an artist, she embarked on a music career. In the beginning, she interpreted the hits of Hajja Hamdaouia and Hajja Hlima. Her collaborations with the stars Oulad El Bouazaoui and Stati had propelled her to the forefront of the scene. Her powerful voice and her stage presence and presence made her a true icon of Chaâbi.