Sana Yousaf murder suspect sent to jail on 14-day judicial remand

• Duty judicial magistrate irked over prosecutor's absence.
  
• Says case will proceed when district prosecutor was available.
• Judge approves IO's request for Umar Hayat's identity parade.
  

ISLAMABAD: An Islamabad district and sessions court on Wednesday sent Umar Hayat, the suspected murderer of TikToker Sana Yousaf, to jail on a 14-day judicial remand.

The suspect, who was arrested yesterday from Faisalabad, was produced before Duty Judicial Magistrate Ahmed Shehzad after a case was registered against him at Sumbal Police Station under Section 302 of the Pakistan Penal Code. He faces allegations of murdering Yousaf at her residence in Islamabad. 

The 17-year-old social media influencer — with more than a million followers across various platforms — was shot twice inside her home in Sector G-13/1 on Monday evening. 

Islamabad Police acted swiftly and apprehended the suspect just 20 hours after the crime with the help of CCTV footage and mobile data analysis.

Hayat (22), also known by his nickname "Kaka", is a TikToker himself and has confessed to the murder. He claimed to be the victim's friend. 

At the time of murder, victim's father — a government officer —was out for work, while her mother had gone to the market. Yousaf's 15-year-old brother is currently visiting their hometown of Chitral after completing his school exams. 

The family lived in the upper portion of the house where the murder took place.

Yousaf's aunt, who was reportedly present at the residence when the incident took place, revealed that the suspect had come to meet the girl and the two had a brief exchange of words before the shooting. 

She told the police she overheard her niece say, "Go away from here. There are cameras all around and I will fetch you some water," moments before the assailant shot her twice in the chest.

Authorities confirmed that Hayat had fled to Faisalabad following the crime.

Islamabad Inspector General Syed Ali Nasir Rizvi revealed that the incident stemmed from repeated rejections by Yousaf, as the suspect had been “trying to reach out to her time and again.”

During the hearing today, the court prosecutor as well as the district prosecutor drew Duty Magistrate Shehzad's ire for being absent. 

"Where are the prosecutors of my court? Generally, prosecutors are not present, but since this is a high-profile case all the prosecutors are present," he remarked.

In response to directives for the district prosecutor to be summoned, the judge was informed that the relevant officer was on leave, after which he said that the case would proceed when the district prosecutor was available.

The court later approved the investigation officer's request for the suspect's identity parade and remanded him to jail under judicial custody for 14 days.

The Digital Rights Foundation (DRF), while condemning the teenager's gruesome murder, lamented the flooding of social media platforms with rampant misinformation, gendered hate speech, and vile celebration of Yousaf's death, which as per the watchdog, has shed light on the "entrenched misogyny that continues to endanger women" in the country both online and offline.

Social media was awash with unfounded claims about Sana's personal life, her relationship with the suspect and baseless insinuations against her family, the DRF said in a statement.

Underscoring widespread glorification of the victim's murder, the DRF noted that such reactions were not isolated but reflected a culture that normalises and justifies violence against women due to their online presence.