Man accused of the murder of Teen Tiktok Star

A man was charged in Pakistan for the murder of the 17 -year -old Tiktok star Sana Yousaf, who had repeatedly rejected his progress.

The murder of Ms. Yousaf in June led to a large condemnation, but also some comments seeming to blame him, triggering a fierce debate on women on social networks.

Umar Hayat, 22, was arrested and confessed to murder shortly after his death, but pleaded not guilty before the Islamabad district court on Saturday.

“All the allegations made against me are baseless and false,” the accused told the judge.

The authorities said at the time of his arrest, which they believed that Mr. Hayat had murdered Ms. Yousaf at his home in Islamabad after rejecting what they called his “friendship offers”. He would also have tried several times and stranded, to meet her.

They say he got into her house, fired two shots, stole his phone and fled.

Hayat, the son of a former civil servant and a Tiktker himself, was arrested shortly after.

Ms. Yousaf has already had a large audience in Pakistan, with half a million fans on Instagram before her death. His Tiktok account has won hundreds of thousands of followers overnight and is now more than two million.

Condolences have flooded her social media pages, where she shared videos from her favorite cafes, her care products and her traditional outfits.

His latest video on Instagram showed her surrounded by balloons and cutting a cake for his birthday.

Tiktok is very popular in Pakistan, many women finding both an audience and an income on the application, which is rare in a country where less than a quarter of women participate in the formal economy.