A father in Pakistan shot and killed his daughter after she refused to delete her TikTok account, police said on Friday.
In the Muslim-majority country, women can face violence from family members for not adhering to strict codes of conduct, even in online spaces. “The girl’s father had asked her to delete her TikTok account. When she refused, he killed her,” a police spokesperson told AFP.
According to the police report shared with AFP, investigators said the father murdered his 16-year-old daughter on Tuesday in the name of “honor.” He was later arrested. Police in the city of Rawalpindi, near the capital Islamabad, said the victim’s family initially attempted to present the killing as a suicide.
Last month, another tragic incident occurred when a 17-year-old TikTok influencer with millions of followers was murdered at her home by a man whose proposal she had rejected. Sana Yusuf had gained over a million followers on platforms like TikTok, where she posted videos about her favorite cafes, skincare products, and traditional outfits.
TikTok has become immensely popular in Pakistan, especially among partially literate populations, due to its wide accessibility. For many women, the app has become a rare avenue for visibility and income in a country where less than a quarter of women participate in the formal economy. However, only 30% of women in Pakistan own a smartphone, compared to 58% of men — the widest gender gap in the world, according to the 2025 Mobile Gender Gap Report.
Pakistani telecom authorities have repeatedly banned or threatened to ban TikTok over concerns about “immoral content,” including LGBTQ+ and sexual material. Earlier this year, in Balochistan — a region governed largely by tribal law — a man admitted to planning the murder of his 14-year-old daughter, claiming her TikTok videos had compromised his “honor.”
Conclusion:
The tragic killing of a teenage girl in Pakistan by her own father over a TikTok account highlights the deeply rooted issues of honor-based violence, gender inequality, and digital freedom. Despite the platform offering rare opportunities for women in a male-dominated society, cultural taboos and lack of digital rights continue to put them at risk. The incident underscores the urgent need for stronger legal protections, public awareness, and societal change to safeguard women’s rights—both offline and online—in Pakistan and similar contexts.
