Police in Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad, have arrested a man accused of killing 17-year-old social media influencer Sana Yousaf.
Yousaf, who has hundreds of thousands of followers on Tiktok and Instagram, was shot dead at his home on Monday, the latest notable instance of suspected murder in Pakistan.
What happened to Sana Yousaf?
Local media reported that he was shot dead at his Islamabad home, according to a police report seen by Dawn, a Pakistani news outlet, filed by Yousaf’s mother, Fazana Yousaf.
The report added that Yousaf was shot twice in her chest and was taken to hospital, but died from her injuries.
Who was Sana Yousaf?
Yousaf was originally a social media influencer from Chitral, a city about 400km (250 miles) north of Islamabad.
As of Wednesday, her Tiktok account had 1.1 million followers. She often posted videos of her own lip syncing on songs. The last video posted on her account is a montage celebrating her birthday with friends.
Dawn said on Tuesday Yousaf was buried in the ancestor cemetery in the village of Chuinj in Chitral.
What do we know about murder suspects?
Islamabad Police Inspector (IGP) Saeed Ali Nasir Rizvi told a media briefing on Tuesday that police had arrested the suspect from Faisalabad, a city about 320 km (200 miles) south of Islamabad within 20 hours of the murder.
“The accused is 22 years old and has repeatedly tried to contact the victim. When she refused to respond, he committed murder,” Lizvi said.
He added that the suspect had held Yousaf’s phone with him to “destroy evidence,” but police seized murder weapons from the suspect.
Dawn reported that the suspect and Yousaf had known each other for a year, citing an unknown source close to the investigation. The suspect traveled to Islamabad between May 28th and 29th to wish Yousaf on his birthday, but for unspecified reasons the two were unable to meet.
The suspect and Yousaf spoke on the phone and decided to meet on June 2nd. When the suspect arrived at Yousaf’s house, she did not come out. However, he still managed to get in, and the discussion continued, escalating to Yousaf’s murder.
Yousaf’s parents were not at home when the murder occurred, but her aunt was present.
What is your reaction to Yousaf’s murder?
The National Committee on the Status of Women (NCSW), a legal body established to investigate government policies affecting women, calls for a detailed investigation into crime.
“We don’t let this incident be buried under a social stigma, a false narrative of honor, or a procedural loophole. This meaningless murder highlights the vulnerability of women and girls, even in their own homes.
Pakistani Home Minister Mohsin Nakvi confirmed the arrest of the suspect on Tuesday in X-Post. “The police collected the pistol and i-phone. [iPhone] The deceased girl and the accused also confessed to the murder,” he wrote.
Well done Islamabad police. Sana Yousaf murder was pursued, arrested and weapons recovered within 20 hours
The incident occurred yesterday in Islamabad when a young girl was murdered by a masked accused. The accused was arrested just an hour ago. The police have pic.twitter.com/jmqx9xalhm
– Mohsin Naqvi (@mohsinnaqvic42) June 3, 2025
A feminist group that hosts Pakistan’s largest annual women’s march in multiple cities (Auratmarch, which usually coincides with International Women’s Day on March 8th), posted a statement on Tuesday. “We, we, the Auratmarch chapter across the nation, demanding justice for a 17-year-old girl and a tiktalker who tragically lost her life to patriarchal violence,” the account wrote in the caption.
“Patriarchy feels most threatened when women and gender minorities assert their voice and vision in public by challenging the norms of stand-pat. In response, it turns into violence into the ultimate tool for silence, control and erasure.
“This is exactly what happened to Sana, who was killed inside her own home by a violent man who couldn’t get the answer. This was not a random hit.
This is exactly what happened to Sana, who was killed in his own house by a violent man who could not give no for the answer. This was not a random hit, this was a planned attack invaded by a man who thought the privacy of a minor girl and the house would run away with it. pic.twitter.com/auorjl3koe
– Aurat March – Pier
Actor Mahira Khan also posted a story on Instagram and shared news of Yousaf’s murder. “I’m tired of the core,” Khan wrote in the caption.
How common is this kind of incident in Pakistan?
In recent years, several cases have occurred, including young women being subject to violent crimes at the hands of men as they know them. Many of these women also had a social media presence on platforms such as Tiktok.
“The murder of Sana Yousaf is part of a horrifying, continuing pattern of violence against Pakistani women, particularly those who dare to exist in autonomy,” Naigat Papa, executive director of the Digital Rights Foundation, told Al Jazeera. “These are not isolated cases, what brings them together is a culture in which women are punished for vision, independence and saying no.
“At the heart of this pattern is vulnerable masculinity and deep-rooted misogyny, when young women assert boundaries or say no to romantic or sexual advances, they injure men’s ego, especially in society where men’s qualifications for women’s bodies and choices.
On January 28, a man named Anwar ul Hak was charged with murder after confessing to shooting his 14-year-old daughter, Hira Anwar, in Ketta, a southwestern city of Pakistan. A man who recently returned his family to Pakistan from the US told police that his daughter found a video of “unpleasant” Tiktok. His daughter had posted videos on social platforms before moving to Pakistan with her family.
In October 2024, police in Karachi, Pakistan, said they had arrested a man for killing four members of the family. Police say four women, ages 60, 21, 20, 20 and 20, were found in a slit throat in another room in their apartment.
In 2022, Pakistani American woman Sania Khan was 29 years old when she was shot and killed by her ex-husband Raheel Ahmad in Chicago after posting about her divorce on her Tiktok account in Chicago. When police arrived, Ahmad, then 36, shot himself with the gun he used to kill Khan.
Perhaps the most famous murder of a Pakistani woman took place in 2016 when social media star Qandeel Baloch was killed by her brother when she was 26 years old.
“Women that can be seen online, especially those who challenge social norms or exist outside the respectful political pattern, face disproportionate abuse and threats,” Dad said. “Repulsion is not just digital, it’s physical. When platforms fail to resist hatred and harassment, violence allows a culture in which women are simply seen and heard.”
According to the Pakistan Human Rights Commission (HRCP), in total, 346 Pakistani women have been killed in the name of “honor” since 324 in 2023.
However, this statistics probably do not include cases like Yousaf, who committed murder after his progress was rejected, if the accused did not come from the victim’s family.
In July 2021, 27-year-old Noormukhadam was killed by Zahir Jaffer in Islamabad. In 2022, the judge sentenced Jafar to death for rape, murder and beheading of Mukhadam. Last week, Pakistan’s Supreme Court upheld Jafar’s death penalty.
“We need systemic change. States must treat online misogyny and gender-based violence as a connected threat, not as separate issues,” Dad said. “When a woman says no and a man responds with violence, it’s not heartbreak, it’s abuse.”
