Police in Rawalpindi have confirmed the arrest of a man accused of fatally shooting his 16-year-old daughter after she refused to delete her TikTok account.
Police said the murder, which occurred on Tuesday, was carried out under the pretext of “honour”, a term often used in South Asian societies to justify violence against women perceived to have brought shame upon their families.
“The girl’s father had asked her to delete her TikTok account. On refusal, he killed her,” a police spokesperson told reporters.
According to the report, the family initially attempted to frame the incident as a suicide. However, an investigation by law enforcement uncovered the truth, leading to the father’s arrest in the city of Rawalpindi, located adjacent to the capital, Islamabad.
The tragedy follows a similar case last month in which 17-year-old TikTok influencer Sana Yousaf, who had amassed over a million followers across her social media accounts, was murdered in her home by a man whose romantic advances she had reportedly rejected.
These disturbing events have once again drawn attention to the growing number of attacks on women and girls in Pakistan linked to their online presence, particularly on platforms such as TikTok.
The app has surged in popularity across the country, offering many women a rare opportunity for both expression and income in a society where fewer than a quarter of women participate in the formal economy.
Despite TikTok’s accessibility and appeal, it remains a controversial platform. The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority has frequently threatened to ban the app, citing “immoral behaviour” and concerns over LGBTQ and sexual content.
While TikTok has become a voice for many Pakistani women, stark gender inequality in digital access persists.
According to the Mobile Gender Gap Report 2025, only 30 per cent of women in Pakistan own a smartphone, compared to 58 per cent of men, the widest such gap in the world.
This is not the first time so-called honour violence has been linked to social media activity.
Earlier this year, in Balochistan, a man confessed to arranging the killing of his 14-year-old daughter, claiming her TikTok videos had compromised the family’s honour.
