Tiktok’s star shot death after rejecting the man, said the police

A 22 -year -old man was arrested in Pakistan and confessed to the murder of the 17 -year -old social media influencer Sana Yousaf, police said.

The authorities say they believe that Umar Hayat murdered Ms. Yousaf at his home in Islamabad after rejected what they called his “friendship offers”. He would also have tried and failed several times to meet her.

They say he got into her house, fired two shots, stole his phone and fled.

Mrs. Yousaf’s father, Syed Yousaf Hassan, told the BBC that she was her only daughter and was “very courageous”. His family met in Chitral, where Ms. Yousaf was buried.

Mr. Yousaf said that she had never mentioned Hayat, nor any threatening behavior, before she was killed.

He said that the aunt of Ms. Yousaf was at the family’s home when the suspect broke out and that he also threatened to shoot him before fleeing.

Ms. Yousaf died before she could be taken to the hospital.

Police said that “brutal” murder had caused “a wave of concern” across the country and that there was “immense” pressure to find the killer.

They made a descent into the locations through the capital and the province of Punjab and scanned images of 113 video surveillance cameras.

The weapon suspected of murder and Ms. Yousaf’s phone have since been recovered.

Ms. Yousaf has already had a large audience in Pakistan, with half a million fans on Instagram before her death. Condolences have flooded its social media pages.

His Tiktok account has won hundreds of thousands of followers overnight and is now more than a million.

His latest video on Instagram, published last week, showed it surrounded by balloons and cutting a cake for his birthday.

Given his high profile in Pakistan, the news of MS Yousaf’s death quickly spread in local media and on social media platforms. This also sparked a fierce debate on women on social networks.

While many have shared their indignation at the death of Mrs. Yousaf, there have also been reactions to her work as an influencer.

The Bolo BHI digital rights group followed the online reaction, and its director Usama Khilji said that such criticisms came from a small part of the mainly male users – some of which have cited religious land.

“They ask why she was setting up all this content, and even suggesting that the family should eliminate her Instagram and Tiktok accounts because they add to her” sins “,” said Khilji.

Dr. Farzana Bari, an eminent human rights activist, argued that the reaction is “misogynist” and “patriarchal”.

She said that Ms. Yousaf had “her own voice” and that online speech is a reminder that social media has become a “very threatening place for female content creators” in Pakistan.

Islamabad police inspector Syed Ali Nasir Rizvi said women who chose to become influencers of social media “deserve our encouragement and support.” He added that the murder of Ms. Yousaf was “tragic”.

Dr. Bari said the authorities condemning the publicly incident were a positive sign that could lead to a change.

The suspect arrested is the son of a former official. He is from the city of Faisalabad, in the province of Punjab, according to the police.