Brutality behind rejection

Express Tribune

04-06-2025

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Another young woman has been silenced, not by society's disapproval of her ambitions, but by its refusal to protect her from male entitlement and rage. The brutal murder of 17-year-old social media influencer Sana Yousaf in Islamabad, allegedly by a man who could not handle rejection, is a terrifying reminder that Noor Mukadam was not a tragic anomaly, but a chilling precedent.
Sana, a teenager with a growing presence on TikTok and Instagram, had the right to chase her influencer dreams without fear of intimidation or harassment. But in Pakistan, a woman's visibility often becomes her vulnerability. Her very presence in the public eye — even digitally — is seen as an open invitation by men who equate admiration with ownership.
And when denied, they turn violent. The Islamabad IG has rightly called this a case of 'repeated rejections'. But one cannot ignore the undoing of a society that fosters impunity for such acts. The problem lies not only in the crime, but in the culture that enables it. We raise boys without teaching them boundaries. We valorise hyper-masculine behaviour and mock the emotional vulnerability. We do not talk about consent — and when women enforce it, we call them arrogant or wayward.
It is time for state institutions to implement strict online surveillance mechanisms to monitor stalking, bullying and digital harassment. We do not need to wait for the violence to spill into the physical world before we act. Digital footprints can and must be tracked, and red flags raised early before lives are lost.
Cybercrime laws do exist, but enforcement is weak and inconsistent. Social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram also lack sufficient local responsiveness. Moreover, in such cases, policing must be swift and firm. But justice cannot end at an arrest or a death sentence. It must include reform — of laws, of police procedures and, most importantly, of minds.