The 17-year-old TikToker was killed in her home in Islamabad, Pakistan’s capital, on Monday.
Police in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad have arrested a man accused of murdering a 17-year-old social media influencer, Sana Yousaf.
Yousaf, who had hundreds of thousands of followers on TikTok and Instagram, was shot dead at her home on Monday, the latest high-profile instance of suspected femicide in Pakistan.
What happened to Sana Yousaf?
Local media reported that Yousaf was shot dead at her home in Islamabad at about 5pm (12:00 GMT), according to a police report filed by Yousaf’s mother, Farzana Yousaf, seen by Pakistani news outlet, Dawn.
The report added that Yousaf was shot twice in her chest and was taken to a hospital but died of her injuries.
Who was Sana Yousaf?
Yousaf was a social media influencer, originally from Chitral, a city about 400km (250 miles) north of Islamabad.
As of Wednesday, her had 1.1 million Tiktok followers. She often posted videos of herself lip syncing to songs. The last video posted on her account is a montage of her celebrating her birthday with her friends.
On Tuesday, Yousaf was buried in her ancestral graveyard in Chitral’s Chuinj village, according to Dawn.
What do we know about the murder suspect?
On Tuesday, Syed Ali Nasir Rizvi, Islamabad’s inspector general of police (IGP), told a media briefing that the police had arrested a suspect from Faisalabad, a city about 320km (200 miles) south of Islamabad, within 20 hours of the murder.
“The accused is a 22-year-old unemployed man who repeatedly attempted to contact the victim. Upon her refusal to respond, he committed the murder,” said Rizvi.
“The accused is a 22-year-old unemployed man who repeatedly attempted to contact the victim. Upon her refusal to respond, he committed the murder,” said Rizvi.
He added that the suspect took Yousaf’s phone with him to “destroy evidence”, but that police had seized her phone as well as the murder weapon from the suspect.
Dawn reported, quoting unnamed sources close to the investigation, that the suspect and Yousaf had known each other for one year. The suspect had travelled to Islamabad between May 28 and 29 to wish Yousaf well on her birthday, but the two could not meet, for unspecified reasons.
The suspect and Yousaf then spoke by phone and decided to meet on June 2. When the suspect reached Yousaf’s house, she did not come out. However, he still managed to enter and an argument ensued, escalating into Yousaf’s murder.
Yousaf’s parents were not at home when the murder took place, but her aunt was present.
What are the reactions to Yousaf’s murder?
The National Commission on the Status of Women (NCSW), a statutory body established to examine government policies affecting women, has demanded a detailed investigation into the crime.
“We will not let this case be buried under social stigma, false narratives of honour, or procedural loopholes. This senseless killing highlights the vulnerability of women and girls, even in their own homes. We demand justice for Sana and her family, and expect the state to ensure accountability of the perpetrators,” said NCSW chairperson Ume Laila Azhar.
Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi confirmed the suspect’s arrest in an X post on Tuesday. “Police has recovered the pistol and the i phone [iPhone] of the deceased girl and accused has confessed the murder as well,” he wrote. Al Jazeera has not been able to independently confirm whether the suspect has confessed to killing Yousaf.
