Zayn Malik
Zayn MalikReuters

April Fools' Day arrived a bit early for One Direction band member Zayn Malik, who was the subject of a death hoax late on Monday evening, when a fake report claimed that the singer was found dead in a hotel room.

The 21-year-old's rumored death soon became a trending topic on Twitter with the hashtag #RIPZaynMalik, and many One Direction fans believed the news before it was revealed to be a hoax.

This is not the first time Malik has fallen victim to a death hoax. In 2012, another death rumor surrounding the British singer resulted in the creation of a Facebook page titled "R.I.P Zayn Malik." At the time, Malik was said to have died of a drug overdose.

The death rumors, coupled with people suspecting him to be a member of terrorist outfit Al Qaeda prompted the singer to delete his Twitter account.

"Nasty things [were said] like I'm a terrorist, and this and that. How can you justify that? How can you call me that and get away with it?" Malik, who is of English and Pakistani descent, told Fabulous magazine in an interview in 2012, according to Sugarscape.

"You can say whatever you want about me, I'm not really bothered. But when it starts to upset people I care about or I hear about it from my mum, then that's a problem," he added.

Malik has since reinstated his microblogging account, but is not very active.

When Malik's death rumors started doing the rounds on Monday, he was once again bullied by a section of Twitter users, who resorted to calling him a terrorist. One user believed that Malik died trying to blow up a bomb.

However, Malik's fans have been rallying haters pointing out that as the official ambassador for The British Asian Trust, Malik has contributed a great deal for the welfare of others.