First Lady and MNA Aseefa Bhutto-Zardari has condemned the murder of teenage social media influencer Sana Yousaf in Islamabad, who was gunned down on the eve of her 17th birthday last week, saying that the incident should not silence girls and discourage from trying to achieve their dreams.
Sana Yousaf was shot dead at her residence in Sector G-13 in the presence of her mother and aunt by an unidentified man who fled the scene. Police arrested the suspect Omar Hayat within a few hours who police claimed murdered Sana because she repeatedly refused his advances.
Inspector General Syed Ali Nasir Rizvi said the suspect was arrested from Faisalabad within 20 hours of the incident. A local court approved a 14-day judicial remand of the prime suspect to facilitate his identification parade.
Calling it a stark reminder of the violence women and girls face simply for asserting their rights, Aseefa extended her condolences to Sana’s family, the community in Chitral, and all those grieving this senseless loss.
“Sana was just a girl—with ambition, with dreams, with a life ahead of her,” Aseefa said in a statement. “She had every right to live freely and safely. What happened to her wasn’t just an act of violence — it was a punishment for saying no. And that should horrify every one of us.”
She highlighted that violence stemming from male entitlement is neither new nor rare—and must no longer be tolerated under the guise of culture or tradition.
“This mindset that a woman’s rejection is an insult, that her choices need to be controlled—it’s old, it’s cruel, and it’s killing our daughters. My mother, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto, broke those walls with her own strength. She didn’t just lead—she opened doors for millions of women to follow. And we owe it to her legacy, and to young women like Sana, to keep those doors open.”
Addressing the wave of online abuse directed at Sana after her death, Aseefa rejected the idea that social media use or self-expression could ever be used to justify violence.
“There is nothing—no app, no photo, no video—that excuses murder. It’s disturbing to see people using Sana’s TikTok presence to explain away her death. If that’s the logic, are we saying millions of girls across Pakistan are also at risk? This kind of thinking is not just dangerous—it’s inhumane.”
She closed with a message of solidarity and defiance to young women across the country.
“To every girl watching this unfold—don’t let them silence you. You have the right to dream, to speak, to exist without fear. Don’t back down. If you do, they win. But if we keep pushing forward—together—we’ll shape a country where girls aren’t blamed for their own deaths, but celebrated for their lives.”
Teenager Sana Yousaf was well-known for her social media activities, with nearly 800,000 followers on her TikTok account and almost 500,000 on her Instagram account.
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