Sana Yousaf murder: Man accused of killing TikToker

On Saturday, a court in Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, charged a man with the murder of Sana Yousaf, a 17-year-old TikTok founder.

Yousaf, a first-year medical student, was slain on June 2 at her Islamabad residence after allegedly turning down a man's advances.

Umar Hayat, 22, was formally charged by Islamabad Additional and Sessions Judge Muhammad Afzal Majoka with murder and phone theft.

Hayat entered a not guilty plea to all of the accusations against him, according to Pakistani news sources and the AP news agency. Dawn, a Pakistani media agency, reports that Hayat argued that all of the charges against him were "based on falsehood."

The hearing was delayed by Afzal Majoka, and the next one is scheduled for September 25.

On June 3, one day after Yousaf was killed, Hayat was taken into custody by Islamabad police. It happened when Farzana, Sana Yousaf's mother, called the police to report that a guy had entered her house and shot at her daughter.

According to Dawn, before Saturday's hearing, Hayat had admitted the murder to the police.

One day prior to Yousaf's birthday on May 29, Hayat had allegedly informed investigators that he had arrived in Islamabad on May 28.

The confession claims that Hayat, who was also active on TikTok, contacted Yousaf and expressed interest in meeting up.

He stormed into her house and killed her after she turned down his requests to meet. According to reports, he also admitted to stealing Yousaf's phone and deleting their exchanges.

Outrage at Yousaf's death soon after her birthday prompted demonstrations calling for an end to patriarchal violence in Islamabad.

In Pakistan, 28% of women aged 15–49 have been victims of physical abuse, and 6% have been victims of sexual assault, according to UNFPA, the UN organisation for sexual and reproductive health.

According to human rights advocates, the nonprofit Human Rights Watch (HRW) said that over 1,000 women in Pakistan are killed for honour each year.

"Violence against women and girls — including rape, murder, acid attack, domestic violence, denial of education, sexual harassment at work, and child and forced marriage is a serious problem throughout Pakistan, and the government has not taken meaningful steps in report," HRW stated in its most recent report on rights.

Yousaf's murder is merely the most recent high-profile instance of violence against women in Pakistan in recent memory.

Men tried to amputate 22-year-old Sobia Batool Shah's legs in 2024 because she was pursuing a divorce. Noor Mukadam, a 27-year-old Pakistani-Jordanian lady, was killed by a man in 2021 after she turned down his proposal of marriage.