Islamabad Police on Tuesday arrested the primary suspect in the murder of 17-year-old Sana Yousaf, with Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi praising their rapid response.
“Well done Islamabad Police,” Naqvi wrote in a posting on X. “Sana Yousaf murder case traced, accused arrested and weapon recovered within 20 hours,” he said, noting the alleged murderer had worn a mask when he committed the crime.
“Police has recovered the pistol and the iPhone of the deceased girl and accused has confessed the murder as well,” he added.
In a press conference, Islamabad Inspector General of Police (IGP) Ali Nasir Rizvi said the motive was “repeated rejection.” He explained the victim had rejected multiple attempts by the suspect to establish a relationship with her online. He had similarly attempted to meet her in person on her birthday last month, but she had refused to meet him. On Monday evening, he explained, this online rejection became a physical rejection and he shot her.
The IGP described the murder as a premeditated crime, declaring the accused a “cold-blooded murderer.”
Rizvi said the suspect had stolen Yousaf’s phone in an attempt to hide his attempts to contact her. He said this was also an attempt to divert the investigation toward a robbery and thanked the public for helping police in reaching and apprehending the accused.
Yousaf, popular on social media with nearly 800,000 followers on Tiktok and 500,000 on Instagram, was shot dead around 5 p.m. on Monday while at her home in Islamabad. Her paternal aunt was also present at the residence and told police Yousaf and the suspect had briefly talked before with the victim before shooting her dead and fleeing the scene. The victim’s mother and father were not at home at the time of the murder.
Police on Monday night registered a murder case against an unidentified suspect at the Sumbal Police Station. Filed on the complaint of Yousaf’s mother, Farzana Yousaf, the FIR cites Section 302 (intentional murder) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC). It states that Yousaf was shot twice in the chest and succumbed to her injuries en route to hospital.
According to the FIR, both Farzana and her sister-in-law, Lateefa Shah, were eyewitnesses to the incident and could identify the suspect if they saw him in person.
Local media reported the suspect was arrested from Faisalabad, adding police had traced him using the latest technology.