Father fatally shoots his daughter for refusing to delete TikTok account

Friday, July 11, 2025 - Police in Pakistan have confirmed that a man fatally shot his 16-year-old daughter after she refused to delete her TikTok account, in what authorities described as an "honour killing." The incident occurred on Tuesday, July 8, in the city of Rawalpindi, adjacent to the capital, Islamabad.

“The girl’s father had asked her to delete her TikTok account. On refusal, he killed her,” a police spokesperson told AFP.

According to the police report shared with AFP, the father initially attempted to frame the incident as a suicide before investigators determined it was a targeted killing. He has since been arrested and is in custody.

The tragedy highlights the deep societal and cultural challenges women face in Pakistan, a Muslim-majority country where family members can perpetrate violence against women who are perceived to have violated conservative norms, particularly in public or online spaces.

TikTok, a widely used video-sharing platform, has grown rapidly in popularity across Pakistan, especially among young people and women, many of whom use it to express themselves or earn income. However, the app has faced repeated scrutiny and censorship from Pakistani authorities, who have accused it of promoting “immoral behaviour.” It has been temporarily banned multiple times for content deemed offensive, including LGBTQ-related and sexual material.

Despite its popularity, digital access remains deeply unequal in Pakistan. According to the 2025 Mobile Gender Gap Report, only 30 percent of women in the country own a smartphone, compared to 58 percent of men—the widest disparity globally. Still, for many women, TikTok has served as a rare platform to find both voice and financial opportunity in a country where fewer than one in four women participate in the formal workforce.

Last month, another high-profile incident underscored the risks for women who attain visibility online. Sana Yousaf, a 17-year-old TikTok influencer with over a million followers, was killed at home by a man whose romantic advances she had reportedly rejected.

In yet another case earlier this year in Balochistan, a man confessed to orchestrating the murder of his 14-year-old daughter over TikTok videos he claimed compromised the family's “honour.” Balochistan, like many rural areas in Pakistan, is governed in part by strict tribal customs that often impose rigid and sometimes brutal codes of conduct for women.