New Delhi: In yet another shocking case of influencer killing in Pakistan, a 17-year-old TikToker from Islamabad was shot dead by an unidentified person at her residence before her mother. While many in Pakistan see Sana Yousuf’s murder as yet another case of so-called “honour killing”, online reactions are divided between mourning and mockery.
The police have filed an FIR, but the killer remains unidentified.
Sana had over 800,000 followers on TikTok and nearly half-a-million on Instagram. She used her reach to speak up for women’s rights, Chitrali culture, and education, according to reports in Pakistani media. In her final Instagram post, the influencer is seen smiling, cutting a birthday cake.
“This nation is morally dead,” Pakistani journalist Muhammad Hammad posted in response on X.
Sana Yousuf, daughter of social activist Yousaf Hassan, was shot dead at her residence Monday. The killing has shaken Pakistan. However, as news of her murder broke, a disturbing undercurrent surfaced: many men took to social media to mock her death.
“In Pakistan, women, children, and minorities are never truly safe. Each day, another innocent soul is blamed for their own death. She was just a child—full of dreams, hopes, and life,” activist Mona Farooq Ahmad wrote on X.
Many people on social media platforms shared screenshots of men calling it “safai (cleaning)” and expressing glee over the fact that Pakistan was doing this.
‘Born in a country with no law’
Across X, women and human rights advocates called out the legal system in the county. “If this turns out to be a ‘family forgave the killer’ s**t show, I’m gonna need the Supreme Court to take suo moto,” journalist Masooma Sherazi wrote on X.
Her tweet was an apparent reference to the Diya law in Pakistan, where those who commit honour killings are forgiven and ordered to give a sum of money to the victim’s family.
Sana’s killing has also led to parallels between her and Pakistan’s first social media celebrity, Qandeel Baloch, who was killed by her brother in 2016.
Her brother, Muhammad Waseem, was arrested the following day and confessed to killing her, claiming it was done in the name of “honour.”
The killing sparked deep division in public opinion. Many condemned it as the silencing of an independent woman who dared to challenge societal norms. In a rare move, the state became the complainant in her case, effectively blocking her family from pardoning the killer, a common legal loophole in so-called honour killings.
“They killed Qandeel Baloch for being bold. Now they’ve killed 17-year-old Sana Yousaf for daring to exist on her own terms. This isn’t culture. This is cowardice hiding behind tradition. Independent women aren’t threats, but the men killing them are,” an X user Aqsa Abbasy wrote.
Sana’s killing was a familiar scene for some: yet another girl, punished brutally for the crime of existing in public view. And once again, Islamabad—Pakistan’s federal capital—was the stage.
“I don’t think we’re talking about how Islamabad keeps being a center for violence against women,” one disgruntled X user wrote, pointing to a brutal pattern: “Noor mukadam, the girl that was raped in f7 park, the transgender person gang raped, and now this. what is the capital police doing,” she asked.
Pakistani TV actors like Amna Youzasaif and Anmol Baloch were among those who expressed shock. “A 17-year-old child. What could she have done to deserve this?” Youzasaif commented Sana’s post on Instagram.
“The only reason this happened is that you were born in a country with no law and order and no consequences for any criminal,” she added.
Others called out the hypocrisy of a country where girls are killed for using social media while religious clerics rally masses to oppose laws banning child marriage. JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman recently condemned a ban on child marriage in Pakistan last week, and even said he would take out protest rallies in response.
“17 years old getting killed while the mullahs of this country are protesting against the child marriage act.. what a country man,” a person pointed out on X,
The irony, many pointed out, is “incredible”.
“Burn this whole place down and start over. People are gleeful of the slaughter of a child because she used the internet. muna**** ‘mullahs’ who are bursting at the seams with money can congregate drooling masses in minutes for the right to ‘marry’ and rape children. Incredible,” Pakistani journalist Sabah Bano Malik wrote on X.
“The fact that we still face national outrage over ‘mera jism, meri marzi’ from men across the spectrum, yet silence—and worse, celebration—of misogyny that kills with impunity, tells us everything we need to know about the state of our society,” human rights lawyer Amna Javed added.
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Not the first case
This isn’t the first case of its kind. In January 2025, a father in Quetta admitted to killing his 15-year-old daughter over her TikTok videos. The same month, two male TikTokers died in accidental gun incidents while filming in Lahore.
The app, which has over 54 million users in Pakistan, has been blocked and unblocked multiple times by authorities, citing “immoral” content.
According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, 346 people were victims of “honour” crimes in 2024, with Sindh and Punjab reporting the highest numbers.
(Edited by Aamaan Alam Khan)