A Pakistani courtroom charged a person on Saturday with homicide for taking pictures a teenage social media influencer exterior her dwelling earlier this 12 months after refusing his provide of friendship.
Choose Mohammad Afzal Majoka within the capital, Islamabad, indicted Umar Hayat for killing 17-year-old Sana Yousuf. Hayat pleaded not responsible.
Hayat, a 22-year-old TikTok content material creator, was arrested in June within the japanese metropolis of Faisalabad. Yousuf’s dying drew widespread condemnation.
Choose Majoka requested Hayat if he had killed Yousuf. Hayat replied that he had not. He additionally rejected the allegation that he had stolen her cell phone, a courtroom official instructed The Related Press. The official spoke on situation of anonymity as a result of he was not licensed to speak to the media.
Footage on Pakistan’s non-public Samaa TV channel confirmed police main a handcuffed Hayat to the courtroom.
FAROOQ NAEEM/AFP through Getty Pictures
Yousuf, initially from the scenic northern area of Chitral, was recognized for selling conventional Chitrali music and costume by means of her TikTok channel. She additionally advocated for ladies’ training. Hours earlier than her homicide, she had posted a birthday celebration photograph with pals.
Police described the killing as a “ugly and cold-blooded homicide,” alleging Hayat killed Yousuf after she repeatedly rejected his proposals.
Some feedback in social media posts sharing the information of Yousuf’s homicide prompt it was justified in a society the place honour codes dictate how girls ought to behave.
“You reap what you sow,” stated one remark.
TikTok enjoys immense recognition in Pakistan as a consequence of its easy-to-use and visually-led format, with tens of tens of millions of customers. Ladies have discovered each viewers and revenue on the app, which is uncommon in a rustic the place fewer than 1 / 4 of the ladies take part within the formal economic system.
However it has additionally confronted short-term bans. The federal government has suspended the platform a number of instances, citing issues that the app promotes immoral or illegal content material.
In July, police in Pakistan stated a father shot and killed his daughter after she refused to delete her TikTok account.
Violence in opposition to girls is pervasive in Pakistan in accordance with the nation’s Human Rights Fee, and circumstances of girls being attacked after rejecting marriage proposals will not be unusual.
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. Jaffer was sentenced to dying.
Agence France-Presse contributed to this report.
