A 17-year-old social media influencer, Sana Yousaf, was fatally shot at her home in Islamabad on Monday evening by a man who had persistently contacted her online, according to police.

Islamabad Inspector General Syed Ali Nasir Rizvi confirmed on Tuesday that the suspect, a 22-year-old man, had been arrested and is believed to have killed Sana after she repeatedly rejected his advances.

“It was a case of repeated rejections. The boy had been trying to contact her again and again,” Rizvi said at a press conference, describing the incident as “a gruesome and cold-blooded murder.”

The suspect reportedly spent hours waiting outside Sana’s house before carrying out the attack.

Sana, who had recently celebrated her 17th birthday, was a popular figure on TikTok with over 800,000 followers, and had more than a million across all her social media platforms. She was known for her lip-sync videos, beauty tips, and product promotions. Her final video, posted just hours before her death, showed her cutting a birthday cake.

After news of her death spread, her followers flooded the comments of her last video with messages like “Rest in Peace” and “Justice for Sana.”

The murder has reignited concerns about violence against women in Pakistan, particularly in cases where men retaliate after facing rejection. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan has described violence against women as widespread and systemic.

Past high-profile cases include the 2021 murder of Noor Mukadam, who was beheaded by a man after refusing his marriage proposal, and Khadija Siddiqui, who survived being stabbed 23 times by a former boyfriend in 2016.

Authorities have not yet released further details about the charges against the suspect in Sana’s case, but the investigation is ongoing.