A rising beauty influencer was gunned down at her home just hours after posting a sweet video of herself cutting her 17th birthday cake—now a man is in custody, and fans are demanding justice.
Sana Yousaf, who had racked up more than a million followers across her social media platforms, was killed in Islamabad on Monday evening, only days after turning 17.
The suspect, a 22-year-old man, had reportedly been lurking outside her home before allegedly opening fire, according to police.
“It was a case of repeated rejections.”
That’s what Islamabad police chief Syed Ali Nasir Rizvi said during a press conference, per BBC News. “The boy was trying to reach out to her time and again,” he explained, calling the attack “a gruesome and cold-blooded murder.”
The news has sent shockwaves through social media. Sana was known for her beauty tutorials, lip-sync clips, and brand partnerships—amassing over 800,000 followers on TikTok alone.
Her final post, uploaded just hours before her death, shows her smiling and cutting into a birthday cake. The comment section is now filled with heartbreak and outrage. “Rest in Peace” and “Justice for Sana” have flooded the post.
Tributes pour in from stunned creators
Fellow influencer Waliya Najib wrote, “This doesn't feel real. You were glowing, just being 17. I'm so sorry this world didn't protect you. Rest in peace, sweetheart.”
UK-based creator Kashaf Ali echoed the disbelief: “This is so awful. A literal 17 year old with so much innocence, killed for what?”
Pakistan’s brutal pattern of gender-based violence
Sana’s tragic death follows a disturbing trend of attacks on young women in Pakistan—often after rejecting advances or simply being active online.
Earlier this year, a father killed his own 15-year-old daughter over her TikTok use. In 2021, the beheading of Noor Mukadam by her boyfriend sparked international outrage. And more recently, Valeria Marquez, a 23-year-old influencer in Mexico, was gunned down while live-streaming from her beauty salon.