'This is a culture': TikTok murder highlights Pakistan's unease with women online
"In my family, it wasn't an accepted profession at all, but I'd managed to convince them, and even ended up setting up my own business," she said.
Then last week, Sana Yousaf was shot dead outside her house in the capital Islamabad by a man whose advances she had repeatedly rejected, police said.
News of the murder led to an outpouring of comments under her final post -- her 17th birthday celebration where she blew out the candles on a cake.
In between condolence messages, some blamed her for her own death: "You reap what you sow" or "it's deserved, she was tarnishing Islam".
Yousaf had racked up more than a million followers on social media, where she shared her favourite cafes, skincare products and traditional shalwar kameez outfits.
TikTok is wildly popular in Pakistan, in part because of its accessibility to a population with low literacy levels. On it, women have found both audience and income, rare in a country where fewer than a quarter of the women participate in the formal economy.
But as TikTok's views have surged, so have efforts to police the platform.
Pakistani telecommunications authorities have repeatedly blocked or threatened to block the app over what it calls "immoral behaviour", amid backlash against LGBTQ and sexual content.
TikTok has pledged to better moderate content and blocked millions of videos that do not meet its community guidelines as well as at the request of Pakistan authorities.
After Yousaf's murder, Bukhari, 28, said her family no longer backs her involvement in the industry.
"I'm the first influencer in my family, and maybe the last," she told AFP.
'Fear of being judged'
Only 30 percent of women in Pakistan own a smartphone compared to twice as many men (58 percent), the largest gap in the world, according to the Mobile Gender Gap Report of 2025.
"Friends and family often discourage them from using social media for fear of being judged," said a statement from the Digital Rights Foundation (DRF).
In southwestern Balochistan, where tribal law governs many rural areas, a man confessed to orchestrating the murder of his 14-year-old daughter earlier this year over TikTok videos that he said compromised her honour.
In October, police in Karachi, in the south, announced the arrest of a man who had killed four women relatives over "indecent" TikTok videos.
These murders each revive memories of Qandeel Baloch, dubbed Pakistan's Kim Kardashian and one of the country's first breakout social media stars whose videos shot her to fame.
After years in the spotlight, she was suffocated by her brother.
Violence against women is pervasive in Pakistan, according to the country's Human Rights Commission, and cases of women being attacked after rejecting men are not uncommon.
"This isn't one crazy man, this is a culture," said Kanwal Ahmed, who leads a closed Facebook group of 300,000 women to share advice.
"Every woman in Pakistan knows this fear. Whether she's on TikTok or has a private Instagram with 50 followers, men show up. In her DMs. In her comments. On her street," she wrote in a post.
"The misogyny and the patriarchy that is prevalent in this society is reflected on the online spaces," he added.
A 22-year-old man was arrested over Yousaf's murder and is due to appear in court next week.
At a vigil in the capital last week, around 80 men and women gathered, holding placards that read "no means no".
"Social media has given us a voice, but the opposing voices are louder," said Hira, a young woman who joined the gathering.
The capital's police chief, Syed Ali Nasir Rizvi, used a press conference to send a "clear message" to the public.
"If our sisters or daughters want to become influencers, professionally or as amateurs, we must encourage them," he said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
France 24
an hour ago
- France 24
French police probe fake Disneyland 'marriage' with nine-year-old
Two people were held for questioning in the case, which initially caused alarm when staff alerted police on Saturday that it could have concerned an illegal child marriage. But investigators now believe that the so-called "marriage" was staged, with the girl's mother reportedly saying that she wanted her to feel like a Disney "princess" for the day. "The event turned out to be a staged event, with the guests themselves extras" invited to be part of the stunt, deputy prosecutor Alexandre Verney said. "So it wasn't a wedding, but a staged wedding filmed with around a hundred extras. They hired Disneyland Paris, pretending it was a real wedding," he told AFP. Four people were arrested and taken into custody, and the questioning of two of them -- suspected of fraud and money laundering -- was extended on Saturday evening. They are the so-called "groom" who is believed to be behind the event, 22 years old and "presumed to be British", and a Latvian woman, 24, said a source close to the case. However, the other two people detained -- a 41-year-old Ukrainian woman, and a 55-year-old Latvian man -- were released. The investigations, including a medical examination of the nine-year-old girl, a Ukrainian national, found that "she had not been subjected to any violence or coercive acts," the prosecutor's office said. According to the Le Parisien daily, which first reported the incident, a man had several weeks previously hired the Disneyland Paris complex for a sum of 130,000 euros ($150,000) for several hours before it opened to the public. Staff were astonished when the nine-year-old appeared wearing high heels on Saturday morning, barely able to stand in the elaborate footwear, and they alerted the authorities, it said. The paper said the man who organised the event had submitted false documents concerning his identity and Disneyland filed a complaint. Hundreds of extras were bussed in to play the part of the guests, it said, while the girl's mother told investigators she wanted to organise a "day worthy of a princess" for her daughter.
France 24
2 hours ago
- France 24
Suicide bomber strikes Syrian church near Damascus during mass, state media says
A suicide bomber in Syria on Sunday detonated himself inside a church filled with people, state television and a war monitor said. The explosion in Dweil'a in the outskirts of Damascus took place as people were praying inside the Mar Elias Church. Britain-based war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says there were 30 people wounded and killed, but the exact numbers are unclear. Some local media reported that children were among the casualties. The attack was the first of its kind in Syria in years, and comes as Damascus under its de facto Islamist rule is trying to win the support of minorities. As President Ahmad al-Sharaa struggles to exert authority across the country, there have been concerns about the presence of sleeper cells of extremist groups in the war-torn country. An eye witness said in a video widely circulated online that the attacker came in and started to shoot at the people there before detonating an explosive vest he was wearing. State news agency SANA reported unspecified casualties. AFP correspondents at the scene saw destruction at the church, with shattered wood from fittings and pews, icons on the ground and pools of blood. More to come.
LeMonde
5 hours ago
- LeMonde
Israeli military says bodies of three hostages recovered in Gaza
The Israeli military said Sunday, June 22, that it had recovered the bodies of three hostages in Gaza more than 20 months after they were abducted by Hamas militants. "In a special operation (...) the bodies of the hostages Ofra Keidar, Yonatan Samerano and Staff Sergeant Shay Levinson were recovered from the Gaza Strip yesterday," the military said in a statement. Samerano's father had announced earlier Sunday that his son's body, which was taken into Gaza after he was killed in a kibbutz by the territory on October 7, 2023, had been recovered by the Israeli army. He paid tribute to "the brave soldiers of the [Israeli military] and the Shin Bet" security service in a message posted on Instagram. The Israeli campaign group the Hostages and Missing Families Forum described Samerano as "a talented DJ who just wanted to make music, have fun, and travel." Keidar, a 71-year-old mother of three, was a resident of a resident of Kibbutz Be'eri – where over a 100 people were killed. Levinson, a 19-year-old tank commander, "engaged and fought terrorists on the morning of October 7 and fell in combat," a statement from the military said. Following the news, the forum repeated their frequent calls for the release of the remaining hostages in Gaza, writing on social media: "The hostages have no time. We must bring them ALL home, Now!" The attack by the Palestinian militant group Hamas on Israel in October 2023 resulted in the deaths of more than 1,200 people. Of the 251 hostages seized during the assault, 49 are still held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead. Israel's retaliatory military campaign against Hamas has killed at least 55,908 people, mostly civilians, according to the Gaza health ministry in the Hamas-run territory. Released hostages have reported that they were beaten and tortured by Hamas militants, while held in isolation in tunnels snaking underneath Gaza. On Sunday, Israel's President Isaac Herzog called for the "urgent release" of the remaining hostages after the United States carried out strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. "This brave step serves the security and safety of the entire free world. I hope it will lead to a better future for the Middle East - and help advance the urgent release of our hostages held in captivity in Gaza," Herzog wrote on X.
