A Pakistani court has sentenced a man to death for the murder of a teenage social media influencer whose killing drew widespread outrage across the country last year.
Umar Hayat, 23, broke into the home of 17-year-old TikTok star Sana Yousaf in June last year after she rejected his repeated advances and shot her dead. Hayat admitted to the crime in July, saying he had developed a one-sided obsession with Yousaf following some online interactions.
Yousaf’s father, Syed Yousaf Hassan, said the verdict handed down by the Islamabad court was “a lesson for all such criminals in society,” local media reported. The court also ordered Hayat to pay 2.5 million rupees ($9,000) in compensation to Yousaf’s family.
During the investigation, Hayat said he had traveled to Islamabad days before the killing to wish Yousaf well on her birthday. Despite her refusal to meet him, he made his way to her home, where an argument escalated into the killing, according to Pakistani media.
Before her death, Yousaf had more than 1 million followers on TikTok and another 500,000 on Instagram. Fans loved her lighthearted content, which included trying on fashion trends, lip-syncing to songs and spending time with friends.
Activists said Yousaf’s murder was part of a broader pattern of violence against women in Pakistan. Police raided locations across the capital, where Yousaf lived with her family, and the province of Punjab, reviewing footage from 113 CCTV cameras.
