Claim: A video shows Sana Yousaf’s accused murderer, Umar Hayat, breaking into her house.
Fact: This claim is false as the video does not depict the incident in question. A comparison with the official CCTV footage released by the police reveals clear discrepancies in both the appearance of the accused and the location of the incident.
A video (archive) shared on Facebook shows a man climbing over a wall and entering a house. The text on the video reads: “ثناء یوسف کے قاتل کی گھر میں پھلانگنے کی ویڈیو لیک”
Who was Sana Yousaf?
Sana Yousaf was a 17 year-old social media influencer from Chitral, known for her popular TikTok and Instagram accounts where she had amassed a wide following. On 2 June 2025, Yousaf was shot twice in the chest inside her home in Islamabad, according to the police. She succumbed to her injuries before she could be taken to the hospital. The attacker entered the house and shot Yousaf dead around 5 pm, according to the first information report (FIR) filed by her mother.
The deceased’s father, Syed Yousaf Hassan, told the BBC she was his only daughter, and was “very brave.” He added that she had never mentioned Hayat, nor any threatening behaviour, before she was killed.
Yousaf’s family gathered in Chitral where she was buried, according to the BBC’s report from 4 June.
Islamabad’s Inspector General of Police (IGP), Syed Ali Nasir Rizvi, described the incident as a “gruesome and cold-blooded murder,” emphasising that the suspect, Umar Hayat, had persistently attempted to contact Yousaf and was rejected multiple times. Rizvi stated, “It was a case of repeated rejections. The boy was trying to reach out to her time and again”. He further noted that Hayat had loitered outside Yousaf’s residence for hours before the attack.
Islamabad police swiftly arrested the 22 -year-old suspect, who took Yousaf’s phone in an attempt to “destroy evidence”, according to Islamabad’s IGP. However, the police recovered the weapon and the device, and said Hayat had confessed to the crime.
Human rights activists have condemned the murder as a manifestation of deep-rooted misogyny and patriarchal violence in Pakistani society. Dr Farzana Bari, a prominent human rights activist, stated, “Every day, women are killed simply for being women. Every third woman in this country faces gender-based violence. When will it end?”.
Aseefa Bhutto-Zardari, First Lady and Member of the National Assembly, also condemned the killing, urging that such incidents should not silence girls or discourage them from pursuing their dreams. She emphasised the need for societal change to protect and empower women.
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check suspected the authenticity of the viral video as it appeared to be filmed using a mobile phone or handheld camera rather than a CCTV system. Several users in the comments had also flagged the video as fake.
To verify, we looked for the official CCTV footage released by the police to the media and found a clip shared by multiple local news outlets. Reviewing the actual CCTV footage immediately made it clear that the viral video is entirely different. In the original CCTV clip, the suspect is wearing a black shirt and grey trousers, whereas the video in the claim shows an individual dressed in a red shirt and black trousers. Additionally, the house and its surroundings in the viral video do not match the location shown in the official CCTV footage.
The viral video also contains a logo on the top-right corner of the frame, which appears to say “R 100”. A Google search of the logo did not yield any relevant results, and it does not appear to be associated with any known news outlet.
Virality
The video was shared here (archive) on Facebook.
Conclusion: The viral video claiming to show Sana Yousaf’s accused murderer entering her home is false. Official CCTV footage released by the police does not match the viral clip, confirming that it does not depict the actual incident.
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Background image in cover photo: 92 News
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