Rights activists welcome trial court’s verdict in Noor Mukadam murder case

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has upheld the death sentence awarded to Zahir Jaffer in the Noor Mukadam murder case in a verdict reserved in December 2022.

The judgment proved a double whammy for Zahir Jaffer as the court not only upheld the death sentence but it also converted his 25-year jail term in rape charges into another death penalty.

The IHC’s two-member bench comprising IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Sardar Ijaz Ishaq Khan announced the verdict which was earlier reserved on December 21.

The court rejected Zahir Jaffer’s plea while also dismissing the pleas of his household staff Mohammad Iftikhar and Mohammad Jan — the co-accused in the case and facing 10 years in prison for abetting. They had also challenged the trial court’s February 2022 verdict.

A landmark judgment

Members of Noor Mukadam’s family, her father Shaukat Mukadam, friends and a large number of civil society and human rights activists were present at the time of the announcement of judgment.

They termed the judgment a landmark decision and a lesson for all harassers and tormentors of women.

Later, while talking to media, Shaukat Mukadam, a former Pakistani ambassador expressed satisfaction at the court’s verdict as the main accused Zahir Jaffer has been awarded death on two counts, rape and murder.

Amna Baig, a lady police officer of Pakistan in her post called the Islamabad High Court’s verdict a victory for women of Pakistan.

“It’s such a win for women of Pakistan - all credit goes to Noor’s Father; for standing with his daughter in her death, in her honour, keeping her alive through his fight for justice.,” said she in her tweet.

Maheen Ghani, an activist working for women empowerment and women’s mental health, in a tweet paid compliments to Noor Mukadam’s ‘brave’ family’ and said she was thinking about the Noor family when the court awarded double death to Zahir Jaffer.

History of case

Noor Mukadam, 27, was found murdered at Jaffar’s residence in Islamabad’s posh residential area, F-7/4 ,on July 20, 2021.

A First Information Report (FIR) was registered the same day against Zahir Jaffer — the primary accused who was arrested from the site of the murder — under Section 302 (premeditated murder) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) on the complaint of the victim’s father, Shaukat Mukadam, who is a retired diplomat.

On February 24, 2022 an Islamabad sessions court sentenced Zahir to death and awarded 10-year imprisonment to two co-accused Mohammad Iftikhar and Jan Mohammad.

Zahir’s parents — father Zakir Jaffer and mother Asmat Adamji — as well as TherapyWorks personnel, were later acquitted by the trial court.

Following the verdict, Zahir had approached the IHC in March 2022 challenging his death sentence.

The court had reserved its verdict in December 2022 and announced it on Monday. Pakistan’s civil society and human rights activists have termed the verdict quite delayed but called it a victory of justice. This is a lesson well-served and a message well-delivered to all women harassers, they said.

Zahir was arrested after the murder was reported, his parents and household staffers were also taken into custody by police on July 24 over allegations of “hiding evidence and being complicit in the crime”. They were made a part of the investigation based on Noor’s father’s statement.