ISLAMABAD: A district and sessions court in Islamabad will deliver its verdict in the high-profile murder of a capital-based young woman on Thursday, the judge said, after all the parties concluded their arguments.
Additional Sessions Judge Muhammad Atta Rabbani, who presided over the proceedings, reserved its decision on Tuesday.
Noor Mukadam, 27, was found beheaded at the residence of Zahir Jaffer in Sector F-7/4 of Islamabad in July. Police charged Jaffer, a US national and scion of one of the country’s wealthiest families, with murder.
Investigators believe the two were friends, and Jaffer lured Mukadam, the daughter of a former envoy to South Korea, to his home, held her there for two days, and then brutally murdered her.
A first information report registered on the complaint of Shaukat Ali Mukadam, the victim’s father, nominated Jaffer under Section 302 (premeditated murder) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).
Jaffer’s parents — Zakir Jaffer and Asmat Adamjee — three domestic staff and six workers of Therapy Works — an Islamabad-based organisation providing mental health services that employed Jaffer and Adamjee — were arrested days later on charges of abetting the murder.
Months later, in October, the sessions court indicted Jaffer along with 11 other suspects — his parents, the household staff, Therapy Works boss Tahir Zahoor and his staff — in the case.
The trial formally commenced on October 20.
Mukadam’s murder received national attention due to a growing, youth-driven women’s rights movement in the country where victims of violence are often discouraged from speaking out and blamed for the abuse.
In the 2021 Global Gender Gap Report of the World Economic Forum (WEF), the country ranks 153 out of 156 countries, and a recent Human Rights Watch (HRW) report found that incidents of domestic violence increased by 200 percent in 2020, worsening after coronavirus lockdowns began.
But many cases of sexual harassment and gender-based violence go unreported. In 2018, the #MeToo movement catalysed some change in Pakistan, but defamation lawsuits against victims have stalled its progress.
Mukadam’s case galvanised a similar feminist movement, with a broader call for social justice.
MAXIMUM PUNISHMENT SOUGHT
Talking to the media after the hearing, Ambassador Mukadam reiterated he sought “maximum punishment” for Jaffer as he reposed his confidence in Judge Rabbani.
“He has conducted a fair and transparent trial,” he said of the judge, adding he was “completely satisfied” with the probe despite “some ups and downs” as he also commended the police for operating “under pressure”.
“It was a difficult time but I had full faith in my daughter. Noor Mukadam was a good girl and she was not involved in anything wrong,” the diplomat said.
