A court in Pakistan has sentenced a 23-year-old man named Umar Hayat to death for murdering a 17-year-old TikTok and Instagram influencer, Sana Yousaf.
The killing happened on June 2 last year at the teenager’s home. The case reignited a debate about women’s safety in the country.
After the verdict on Tuesday, the victim’s father, Hassan Yousaf, said the decision is a lesson for all such criminals in society. Speaking outside the court in Islamabad, he said the verdict is not just for him as an individual but for the entire society. He added that it should teach criminals that if they commit such an act, they can face such a result.
Police arrested Hayat in the city of Faisalabad within 20 hours of the murder. An official called it a case of repeated rejections.
In a recorded statement, Hayat admitted to the crime. He said he had developed a one-sided obsession with Yousaf after online interactions. According to the statement, he travelled to Islamabad to wish her well on her birthday, but they could not meet. After she refused to meet him, he grew suspicious that she was deliberately avoiding him.
The two then spoke by phone and decided to meet on June 2. Hayat rented a vehicle and brought a pistol with him. When he reached her house, she did not come out. However, he still managed to enter, and an argument broke out that led to her murder. Her mother and aunt witnessed the killing.
Hayat later denied the sequence of events, claiming they never quarrelled nor had contact.
According to experts, Yousaf’s murder is not an isolated case but part of a wider culture rooted in deep-seated prejudice against women, where women are punished for their independence and visibility.
A rights expert said that when young women 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. She added that this entitlement turns deadly when left unchecked by law and culture.
According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, 346 women in the country were killed in 2024 in the name of honour, up from 324 in 2023.
