Man shoots dead Pakistani teen TikTok star for ‘rejecting' him
Sana Yousaf, who turned 17 last week and had more than a million followers across her social media accounts, was killed at her home in the capital Islamabad on Monday evening.
The police have arrested a 22-year-old on suspicion of her murder who spent hours loitering outside her home.
'It was a case of repeated rejections. The boy was trying to reach out to her time and again,' Islamabad police chief Syed Ali Nasir Rizvi said during a news conference.
'It was a gruesome and cold-blooded murder,' Rizvi added.
Yousaf had more than 800,000 followers on TikTok, a wildly popular platform in Pakistan, where she posted lip-sync videos, skincare tips, and promotional content for beauty products.
The last video posted on her account was hours before her murder, in which she was seen cutting a cake for her birthday.
'Rest in Peace' and 'Justice for Sana', read some comments under the video.
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.
In 2016, Khadija Siddiqui survived being stabbed 23 times by a jilted ex-boyfriend.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Arab News
5 hours ago
- Arab News
'You can't snatch even a drop,' Pakistan warns India against restricting Indus waters
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Tuesday warned India against restricting the flow of its share of the Indus waters, saying New Delhi could not 'snatch even a drop' of water from Pakistan. India announced in April it was putting the 1960 World Bank-mediated Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), which ensures water for 80 percent of Pakistani farms, in abeyance a day after an attack in Indian-administered Kashmir that New Delhi blamed on Pakistan, an allegation Islamabad denies. The IWT grants Pakistan rights to the Indus basin's western rivers — Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab — for irrigation, drinking, and non-consumptive uses like hydropower, while India controls the eastern rivers — Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej — for unrestricted use but must not significantly alter their flow. India can use the western rivers for limited purposes such as power generation and irrigation, without storing or diverting large volumes, according to the agreement. Pakistan has previously said the treaty has no provision for one side to unilaterally pull back and that any blocking of river water flowing to Pakistan will be considered 'an act of war,' while Islamabad said on Monday that the Court of Arbitration in the Hague last week issued a ruling with regard to the design of new Indian hydro-electric power stations on the western rivers that was in line with Pakistan's interpretation of the relevant provisions of the treaty. 'I want to tell this to the enemy today that you threaten to cut off our water, remember this you cannot snatch even a drop of Pakistan's share [of Indus water],' Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said at a ceremony in Islamabad. 'If you attempt such an act, we will again teach you such a lesson that you will regret it.' Pakistan had brought a case to the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration in 2023 over the design of Indian hydro-power projects on rivers that were awarded to Pakistan under the IWT. In a ruling on Friday that was posted on its website on Monday, the court said it had jurisdiction over the dispute and ruled the treaty 'does not permit India to generate hydro-electric power on the Western Rivers based on what might be the ideal or best practices approach for engineering' of these projects. Instead, the design of these projects must adhere 'strictly' to the specifications laid down in the treaty, the court said. Pakistan's Attorney General, Mansoor Usman, said in an interview on Tuesday that, by and large, the court had accepted Pakistan's position, especially on the design issue of the new hydropower projects. 'I am sure it is clear now that India cannot construct any of these projects in violation of the court's decision,' he told Reuters. Pakistan's foreign ministry said late Monday that the court ruling said that India had to 'let flow' the waters of the three rivers for Pakistan's unrestricted use. The court said its findings are final and binding on both countries, according to the foreign office statement. But an Indian official pointed to a June statement by India's foreign ministry, which said that New Delhi has never recognized the existence in law of the Court of Arbitration. Pakistan and India engaged in a four-day military conflict in May this year, attacking each other with fighter jets, missiles, drones and artillery. The standoff killed around 70 people on both sides before the United States announced a ceasefire on Monday, although India denies agreeing to the truce on the request of Washington.
Arab News
6 hours ago
- Arab News
Deputy PM calls for modernizing port infrastructure to boost Pakistan trade competitiveness
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar has called for modernizing the country's port infrastructure and streamlining the processes to bolster Pakistan's competitiveness in regional and global trade, state media reported on Tuesday. Dar said this at a meeting he presided over in Islamabad to review operations at Pakistani ports and proposals to enhance efficiency, reduce turnaround times and ensure smooth cargo handling. Pakistan is currently making efforts to capitalize on its geostrategic location to boost trade and investment alongside tourism as it slowly recovers from a macroeconomic crisis under a $7 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) program. 'The meeting covered measures to address port congestion, strengthen trade facilitation, and improve logistics systems to support imports, exports and overall economic activity,' the Radio Pakistan broadcaster reported. Officials say the South Asian country plans to cut container dwell time at its seaports by up to 70 percent to improve trade competitiveness and ease congestion. Islamabad last month reduced port charges for exporters by 50 percent at the second largest Port Qasim. Earlier this month, Pakistan granted its first-ever ferry service license to an international operator, Sea Keepers, for routes connecting Pakistan with Iran and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, the Pakistani maritime affairs ministry said on Monday. Maritime Affairs Minister Junaid Anwar Chaudhry hailed the move as a 'historic step,' aligned with Pakistan's National Maritime Policy, and emphasized the opportunity this license creates for boosting regional connectivity, religious tourism and economic activity via sea routes. 'Initial operations will commence from the ports of Karachi and Gwadar using modern ferry vessels equipped with essential amenities to ensure safe, affordable travel,' Chaudhry was quoted as saying by his ministry. It did not specify a date for the start of operations.
Arab News
8 hours ago
- Arab News
Pakistani journalists protest Israel's killing of Al Jazeera reporters in Gaza
KARACHI: A large number of Pakistani journalists gathered outside the press club in the southern city of Karachi on Tuesday to protest the killing of five Palestinian journalists, including Al Jazeera correspondent Anas Al-Sharif, in an Israeli strike on Gaza. The demonstration came amid outrage over what journalist unions have called a targeted campaign against the press in the conflict-ridden Palestinian territory, where at least 269 journalists have been killed by Israel since Oct. 2023. Israel's war on Gaza has killed more than 60,000 Palestinians, around half of them women and children, with media workers reporting from the territory despite shortages of food, power and safety equipment amid Israeli blockades. Speaking at the demonstration, Nasrullah Chaudhry, president of the Karachi Union of Journalists (KUJ), called the recent killing of journalists in Gaza a 'massacre,' hailing Palestinian journalists for their courage and professional commitment. 'We pay tribute to the Palestinian journalists who brought truth to the world,' he said, adding that the Palestinian journalists were standing firm 'in the face of historic oppression and hunger.' Veteran Pakistani journalist Mazhar Abbas told Arab News the protest was not only about the deaths of Al Jazeera reporters, but part of a broader condemnation of Israel's targeting of journalists in Gaza. He said reporters in Gaza were being 'particularly targeted,' not caught in crossfire, and the intent was to stop them from covering Israel's war. 'They are targeting them to stop them from reporting,' Abbas said, adding that many journalists could not even report now 'because of the lack of food.' He described the scale of journalist deaths in Gaza as 'unprecedented,' adding that such a large number of journalists had not been killed in any war or conflict. 'It is a genocide,' Abbas said, urging Pakistan's parliament and the international community to raise their voice against Israeli military actions in Gaza. Sohail Afzal Khan, the Karachi Press Club secretary, condemned what he called 'Israel's barbarism' and said all media organizations in Pakistan were participating in the protest to expose Israel's brutality. Amir Latif, assistant secretary of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), said the killing of Al-Sharif and his colleagues was a continuation of Israel's policy of targeting media personnel. 'They are telling the truth to the world and Israel wants to hide the truth,' he said, criticizing the world for its silence and failure to act against Israeli attacks on journalists. The protesting journalists called on international media bodies and rights organizations to pressure Israel to stop targeting the press and allow independent coverage of the conflict. They also urged the Pakistani government to raise the issue at the United Nations and other forums. G.M. Jamali, a former PFUJ president, said Pakistani journalists should go a step further and write letters to world leaders demanding that Israel be declared a 'terrorist state.' 'If journalists from Pakistan send letters across the world,' he said, 'then at the very least, the image of Pakistani journalists will be seen positively that we made an effort.'
