Pakistani court indicts man over killing of teenage TikTok influencer

Umar Hayat, 22, pleads not guilty to murdering 17-year-old Sana Yousaf in her home earlier this year.

A man accused of murdering a 17-year-old social media influencer at her home in Pakistan after she repeatedly rejected his advances has been formally indicted.

Sana Yousaf’s murder in June this year drew nationwide condemnation and reignited debate over women’s safety, after some online comments – alongside condolences – blamed her for her own death.

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The 22-year-old accused, Umar Hayat, also a TikTok influencer, pleaded not guilty in a court in the capital Islamabad on Saturday as the trial formally began.

“All the allegations made against me are baseless and false,” Hayat, who is from Faisalabad city in Punjab province, told Judge Muhammad Afzal Majoka.

The court adjourned the hearing until September 25, when it will hear from witnesses and formally frame the charges, reported Pakistan’s The Express Tribune newspaper.

Yousaf had more than a million followers on social media accounts, including TikTok, where she shared videos of her favourite cafes, skincare products and traditional outfits.

TikTok is wildly popular in Pakistan, in part because of its accessibility to a population with low literacy levels. Women have found both an audience and income on the app, which is rare in a country where fewer than a quarter of women participate in the formal economy.

Sana Yousaf [Screengrab/Social Media]

According to police, Yousaf was shot at close range inside her home. Hayat reportedly entered her house, opened fire, and then fled the scene.

Police described the killing as a “gruesome and cold-blooded murder”, alleging Hayat killed Yousaf after she repeatedly rejected his proposals.

Charges against the accused include murder and taking away the victim’s mobile phone in an attempt to wipe out the evidence of being repeatedly rejected by her, Pakistan’s English-language newspaper Dawn reported Islamabad Inspector General Syed Ali Nasir Rizvi as saying.

Some comments in social media posts sharing the news of Yousaf’s murder suggested it was justified in a society where honour codes dictate how women should behave. “You reap what you sow,” said one user.

Violence against women is pervasive in Pakistan, according to the country’s Human Rights Commission, and cases of women being attacked after rejecting marriage proposals are not uncommon.

In 2021, 27-year-old Noor Mukadam was beheaded by her Pakistani-American boyfriend, Zahir Jaffer, after she rejected his marriage proposal in a case that sparked widespread anger.