Latest news with #SyedAliNasirRizvi
Business Recorder
10-06-2025
- Politics
- Business Recorder
IG Rizvi visits homes of police martyrs; honours families with Eid gifts
ISLAMABAD: Inspector General of Police (IGP) Islamabad, Syed Ali Nasir Rizvi, visited the homes of police martyrs and distributed Eid gifts among their families as a gesture of solidarity and gratitude. A public relations officer told APP on Monday that the visit was aimed at honouring the sacrifices of the brave officers who laid down their lives in the line of duty, ensuring peace and security for the citizens of the capital. IG Rizvi said that police martyrs are a priceless asset to the nation, and it is due to their ultimate sacrifices that citizens are able to sleep peacefully. IG Rizvi said that taking care of the families of martyrs in every possible way is among the top priorities of Islamabad Police. IG further stated, 'If you ever face any kind of difficulty, feel free to contact me directly without hesitation.
Al Jazeera
04-06-2025
- General
- Al Jazeera
Who was Sana Yousaf, Pakistani TikTok star shot dead by a gunman?
Police in Pakistan's capital Islamabad have arrested a man accused of murdering a 17-year-old social media influencer, Sana Yousaf. Yousaf, who had hundreds of thousands of followers on TikTok and Instagram, was shot dead at her home on Monday, the latest high-profile instance of suspected femicide in Pakistan. Local media reported that Yousaf was shot dead at her home in Islamabad at about 5pm (12:00 GMT), according to a police report filed by Yousaf's mother, Farzana Yousaf, seen by Pakistani news outlet, Dawn. The report added that Yousaf was shot twice in her chest and was taken to a hospital but died of her injuries. Yousaf was a social media influencer, originally from Chitral, a city about 400km (250 miles) north of Islamabad. As of Wednesday, her TikTok account had 1.1 million followers. She often posted videos of herself lip syncing to songs. The last video posted on her account is a montage of her celebrating her birthday with her friends. On Tuesday, Yousaf was buried in her ancestral graveyard in Chitral's Chuinj village, according to Dawn. On Tuesday, Syed Ali Nasir Rizvi, Islamabad's inspector general of police (IGP), told a media briefing that the police had arrested a suspect from Faisalabad, a city about 320km (200 miles) south of Islamabad, within 20 hours of the murder. 'The accused is a 22-year-old unemployed man who repeatedly attempted to contact the victim. Upon her refusal to respond, he committed the murder,' said Rizvi. He added that the suspect took Yousaf's phone with him to 'destroy evidence', but that police had seized her phone as well as the murder weapon from the suspect. Dawn reported, quoting unnamed sources close to the investigation, that the suspect and Yousaf had known each other for one year. The suspect had travelled to Islamabad between May 28 and 29 to wish Yousaf well on her birthday, but the two could not meet, for unspecified reasons. The suspect and Yousaf then spoke by phone and decided to meet on June 2. When the suspect reached Yousaf's house, she did not come out. However, he still managed to enter and an argument ensued, escalating into Yousaf's murder. Yousaf's parents were not at home when the murder took place, but her aunt was present. The National Commission on the Status of Women (NCSW), a statutory body established to examine government policies affecting women, has demanded a detailed investigation into the crime. 'We will not let this case be buried under social stigma, false narratives of honour, or procedural loopholes. This senseless killing highlights the vulnerability of women and girls, even in their own homes. We demand justice for Sana and her family, and expect the state to ensure accountability of the perpetrators,' said NCSW chairperson Ume Laila Azhar. Pakistan's Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi confirmed the suspect's arrest in an X post on Tuesday. 'Police has recovered the pistol and the i phone [iPhone] of the deceased girl and accused has confessed the murder as well,' he wrote. Al Jazeera has not been able to independently confirm whether the suspect has confessed to killing Yousaf. Well Done Islamabad Police. Sana Yousaf murder case traced, accused arrested and weapon recovered within 20 hours The incident occurred yesterday in Islamabad when a young girl was murdered by a masked accused. The accused has been arrested just an hour back. Police has… — Mohsin Naqvi (@MohsinnaqviC42) June 3, 2025Aurat March, the feminist group which organises Pakistan's largest annual women's march in multiple cities – usually coinciding with International Women's Day on March 8 – posted a statement on Tuesday. 'We, the Aurat March chapters across the country, demand justice for Sana a 17-year-old girl and TikToker who tragically lost her life to patriarchal violence,' the account wrote in the caption. 'Patriarchy feels most threatened when women & gender minorities claim voice and visibility in public by challenging the stand pat norms. In response, it turns to violence the ultimate tool to silence, control, and erase. 'This is exactly what happened to Sana who was killed inside her own home by a violent man who couldn't take no for an answer. This wasn't a random hit, this was a planned attack where a minor girl's privacy and home were invaded by a man who thought he would get away with it.' This is exactly what happened to Sana who was killed inside her own home by a violent man who couldn't take no for an answer. This wasn't a random hit, this was a planned attack where a minor girl's privacy and home were invaded by a man who thought he would get away with it. — Aurat March – عورت مارچ (@AuratMarchKHI) June 3, 2025Actor Mahira Khan also posted a story on Instagram, sharing the news of Yousaf's murder. 'Disgusted to the core,' Khan wrote in the caption. In recent years, several incidents have occurred involving young women being subject to violent crimes at the hands of men they know. Many of these women also had a social media presence on platforms such as TikTok. 'Sana Yousaf's murder is part of a horrifying, ongoing pattern of violence against women in Pakistan, especially those who dare to exist with autonomy,' Nighat Dad, the executive director of a nongovernmental, research-based advocacy organisation, Digital Rights Foundation, told Al Jazeera. 'These are not isolated incidents. What connects them is a culture where women are punished for visibility, independence, and saying no. 'At the heart of this pattern is fragile masculinity and deeply rooted misogyny. When young women assert boundaries or say no to romantic or sexual advances, it bruises the male ego, especially in a society that teaches men entitlement over women's bodies and choices. This entitlement, when left unchecked by law, culture, and platforms, turns deadly,' Dad added. On January 28, a man named Anwar ul-Haq was charged with murder after he confessed to shooting his 14-year-old daughter Hira Anwar in Quetta, a city in Pakistan's southwest. The man, who had recently moved his family back to Pakistan from the US, told the police he found TikTok videos made by his daughter 'objectionable'. His daughter had been posting videos to the social platform before she had moved to Pakistan with her family. In October 2024, police in Pakistan's southern city Karachi said they had arrested a man for killing four members of his family. The four women, aged 60, 21, 20, 20 and 12 were found with slit throats in separate rooms of their apartment, according to the police. In 2022, Pakistani American woman Sania Khan was 29 when she was shot and killed by her former husband, Raheel Ahmad, in Chicago after she had posted about her divorce on her TikTok account. When the police arrived, Ahmad, 36 at the time, shot himself with the gun he used to kill Khan. Possibly the most high-profile murder case of a Pakistani woman took place in 2016, when social media star Qandeel Baloch was killed by her brother when she was 26 years old. 'Women who are visible online, particularly those who challenge social norms or exist outside the mold of respectability politics, face disproportionate abuse and threats,' Dad said. 'The backlash isn't just digital, it's physical. When platforms fail to act against hate and harassment, they enable a culture where violence becomes the consequence of women simply being seen and heard.' In all, 346 women in Pakistan were killed in 2024 in the name of 'honour', up from 324 in 2023, according to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP). But this statistic likely does not include cases like Yousaf's, where the accused man is not from the victim's family and committed murder after his advances were rejected. In July 2021, 27-year-old Noor Mukadam was killed in Islamabad by Zahir Jaffar, whose family was known to Mukadam's. In 2022, a judge sentenced Jaffar to death for the rape, murder and beheading of Mukadam. Last week, Pakistan's Supreme Court upheld Jaffar's death penalty. 'We need systemic change. The state must treat online misogyny and gender-based violence as connected threats and not separate issues,' Dad said. 'When a woman says no, and a man responds with violence, that's not heartbreak, it's abuse.'
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
TikTok Star Sana Yousaf Dead at 17 in Shooting
Originally appeared on E! Online The TikTok community has lost a beloved member: Sana Yousaf. The 17-year-old—who amassed over 1 million followers across her social media platforms—was shot in her home in Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, police confirmed to CBS News June 3. E! News has reached out to authorities for comment and has not heard back. Her alleged killer, a masked 22-year-old man who police arrested within 20 hours and has since confessed to the murder, according to the Islamabad police, had repeatedly contacted her online and spent hours loitering outside her home. "It was a case of repeated rejections," Islamabad police chief Syed Ali Nasir Rizvi said during a news conference. "The boy was trying to reach out to her time and again." He added, "It was a gruesome and cold-blooded murder." The teen, who celebrated her 17th birthday just last week, was known for her lip-sync videos, skincare tips and beauty content. She had over 800,000 followers on TikTok, which is incredibly popular in Pakistan. More from E! Online Ellen Pompeo Detained for Hour by TSA and Bomb Squad Over Erewhon Sunflower Seeds Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt's Daughter Shiloh Debuts New Name Kylie Jenner Reveals Exact Details About Her Boob Job In her last post just hours before her murder, she shared clips from her birthday festivities, including a cake with a sparkler on top and eating with friends. Several Instagram users flooded the comment section of her last post, sharing their sadness and anger after hearing the tragic news. "This is so awful," one fellow content creator wrote. "A literal 17 year old with so much innocence, killed for what ?" Another shared, "Can't believe this," with a heartbreak emoji. "May her soul rest in peace." Ayesha Khan Lodhi, a Pakistani social media personality actress, shared her frustration at the violence in their country. "Please stop sharing her pictures. She was brutally murdered in the capital of Pakistan—how much more unsafe can this country get?" she wrote. "No one is safe anymore. No law, no fear of consequences. This is not normal. This is not okay. Please take a moment to recite Surah Al-Mulk for her." For the latest breaking news updates, click here to download the E! News App
Hindustan Times
03-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
Rejection, obsession, murder: what led to Pakistan TikTok star Sana Yousaf's killing
Sana Yousaf, a 17-year-old TikTok star with over 8,00,000 followers, was shot dead in her house in Pakistan's Islamabad in what police are calling a "gruesome and cold-blooded" act driven by rejection and obsession. Pakistani TikToker Sana Yousaf's followers were over a million across platforms, however, the rising digital influencer's life was cut short on Monday by a man who had been persistently contacting her online, according to an AFP news agency report. Police say the suspect, a 22-year-old man, had loitered outside her house for hours before the attack, the report said. '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 was quoted as saying at a press briefing. 'It was a gruesome and cold-blooded murder,' Rizvi added. Sana Yousaf was popular for her lip-sync videos, skincare tips, and collaborations with beauty brands. Her final TikTok, posted just hours before her death, showed her cutting a cake to celebrate her 17th birthday. In the wake of the killing, disturbing comments emerged on social media, with some users suggesting her murder was warranted due to her online presence—a sentiment rooted in the country's entrenched notions of "honour" and gender roles. 'You reap what you sow,' read one such comment. Women's rights activist Nighat Dad condemned the backlash, saying such reactions normalise gender-based violence in Pakistan. 'The vile comments under news of Sana's murder aren't just hateful noise, they're part of a mindset that normalizes violence against women in Pakistan,' she said online, as per AFP. Muniba Mazari, Goodwill Ambassador of UN Women Pakistan, wrote on X, Another day, another precious life taken for simply saying No! We all failed to protect a 17 year old vibrant girl who was creating joy for millions. #SanaYousaf You deserved better. We failed you!" The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan has long warned about the prevalence of violence against women, especially in cases where men respond violently to rejected romantic or marriage proposals. Sana Yousaf's killing has drawn parallels to past high-profile attacks, including the 2021 murder of Noor Mukadam and the 2016 stabbing of Khadija Siddiqui—both victims of rejected suitors.
Observer
03-06-2025
- General
- Observer
Pakistan teen influencer killed after 'rejecting' man
Islamabad: Pakistani police on Tuesday said a 17-year-old TikTok star was shot dead by a man who had repeatedly contacted her online. 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.
