Becoming a social media influencer can be an extremely attractive thing to do.
Teenagers are fortunate because they have years ahead of them to enjoy the experience, and have lots of time and creativity to create things that are engaging.
Unfortunately however, due to their young age, many of them lack the sensibility of drawing a line between their personal and professional life.
They also lack the understanding of what should, and shouldn't be done in the society.
And this time, in Pakistan, two teenagers were caught shooting an elderly men, just for the sake of one TikTok video.
It all started when four teenage students were riding a motorcycle with a firearm, in the Malir area of Karachi.
Then at one point, they past the house of Qamar Raza.
The man was standing right in front of his house near Ghazi Chowk in Jaffar-e-Tayyar.
When the teens rode their motorcycle past him, one of the teens shot the elderly man.
The TikTokers then fled the scene after the incident in order to avoid arrest.
When the crowd realized what happened, the unfortunate man was brought to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC). The man who was shot in his abdomen died the following day during treatment.
At first, the police thought that the man was hit by a stray bullet.
But upon close inspection, the authorities realize that the incident was a homicide.
Police requested the court to remand them for further investigation into the incident, especially because the suspects were under 18 years of age.
The court sent the accused to jail on judicial remand
According to report, it was Fazil Ali who fired the gun. But according to the suspects, it wasn't their intention to shoot the man.
While they admitted to opening fire, they did it for an adventure thrill. It was the bullet that mistakenly hit the victim.
Not only that the teens have been arrested, as the murder weapon, and the motorcycle have also been recovered.
After being caught, the two suspects have given the authorities information about their two on-the-run friends, and raids are being performed to apprehend them as well.
In response to this incident, TikTok broke its silence.
"Our first goal is the safety of our community, and we will not accept any harmful activities, hate speech, or hateful behaviour. We have zero tolerance for firearms on TikTok, and any content depicting acts of violence is not permitted," said a TikTok spokeswoman in a statement.
The platform also remains "vigilant" in its commitment to user safety, and has promised to "delete" any content that breaches its community guidelines.
"We provide tools for our users’ digital well-being and we will continue to educate our global community on online safety which is an industry-wide challenge."
