A tragic incident in Pakistan has sparked fresh outrage after police revealed that a father fatally shot his 16-year-old daughter for refusing to delete her TikTok account.
According to a police spokesperson speaking to AFP on Friday, the father demanded his daughter close her account on the popular video-sharing app and, when she refused, he killed her in what investigators described as an “honour” killing.
The attack occurred on Tuesday in Rawalpindi, near the capital city Islamabad. Authorities reported that the family initially attempted to present the murder as a suicide before the truth emerged. The father has since been arrested.
In Pakistan—a Muslim-majority country—women and girls are often subjected to violence by family members for perceived violations of conservative social norms, including their conduct on social media platforms.
This tragedy follows a similar case last month, when 17-year-old TikTok influencer Sana Yousaf, who had amassed over a million followers by posting content about daily life and fashion, was murdered at home by a man whose romantic advances she had rejected.
Despite ongoing threats of bans and censorship by Pakistani authorities over “immoral behaviour” and content deemed controversial, TikTok remains immensely popular across the country, particularly among young people and women who use it to build audiences and generate income—a rare opportunity in a nation where less than 25% of women participate in the formal workforce.
The digital gender divide in Pakistan remains stark. According to the 2025 Mobile Gender Gap Report, only 30% of women in Pakistan own a smartphone, compared to 58% of men—the widest gap globally.
In another recent incident in southwestern Balochistan, a man confessed to arranging the murder of his 14-year-old daughter, claiming her TikTok activity had brought “dishonour” to the family under strict tribal codes that still prevail in many rural regions.
The recurring violence highlights deep-rooted gender inequality and the peril women face when expressing themselves—even online—in parts of the country.
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