The family of Noor Mukadam finally got justice this week when a court in Islamabad awarded death penalty to the prime accused, Zahir Jaffer, seven months after the gruesome murder in the heart of Islamabad that shocked the entire nation.
27-year-old Noor Mukadam was murdered on July 20, 2021 within the limits of the Kohsar police station at Islamabad’s upscale F-7 area. Zahir was arrested from his house, where, according to Noor’s parents, he had killed their daughter with a sharp instrument and later also severed her head.
Zahir was formally charged for the crime by an Islamabad court in October 2021. Besides him, watchman Jamil and gardener Jan Mohammad – both employees of the Jaffer family – were also indicted.
During the trial, Zahir apparently tried to hoodwink the court by allegedly faking mental illness. He appeared in the court on a wheelchair and once he was brought to the courtroom on a stretcher.
His lawyers also tried to invoke the “insanity defense” and in December 2021 filed a petition, asking the court to form a medical board to examine Zahir’s mental condition.
The court, however, turned down a plea in January. The doctors, who examined Zahir at the Adiala jail, also declared him mentally and physically fit.
The trial court continued to hear the case and after 25 hearings unveiled its short order on February 24.
In his short order, Additional Sessions Judge Atta Rabbani handed down the death penalty to Zahir Jaffer while his employees were sentenced to 10 years in prison for abetting the act.
The judge, however, acquitted Zahir’s parents, Zakir Jaffer and Ismat Adamjee, as well as other suspects in the case including Therapy Works employees, of the charge of abetment.
The court awarded death sentence to Zahir under Section 302(b) (premeditated murder) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC). The court also found Zahir guilty of rape and sentenced to him to 25 years of rigorous imprisonment along with a fine of Rs200,000 under Section 376 (punishment for rape) of the PPC.
“He is directed to pay Rs500,000 as compensation to the legal heir of the deceased as required under Section 544-A of the CrPC [Criminal Procedure Code].
“In case of non-payment of [the] compensation amount, it shall be realised as arrears of land revenue. In case of non-realisation, the convict shall have to undergo six months [in jail],” it said.
The court also sentenced Zahir to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs100,000 under Section 364 (kidnapping in order to murder) and one year of rigorous imprisonment under Section 342 (wrongful confinement).
“The sentences of imprisonment shall run concurrently and the accused is granted benefit of Section 382(B) of the CrPC Criminal Procedure Code].”
Zahir could, however, appeal against the verdict in the Islamabad High Court within seven days.
The nation awaited the verdict with bated breath and hailed it in unequivocal terms. However, experts believe this is not the end of the gory saga that took place on July 20 last year.
Given the country’s judicial system, where long proceedings and delayed verdicts are a norm, a simple open and shut case can take years to decide.
Talking to Bol News, Amir Malik – the Rawalpindi Bar Council former secretary finance – said Zahir Jaffer has the right to appeal against his sentence in higher courts.
“In such cases lower courts mostly give capital punishment because of the high emotions of victim families. In the next step, the accused, by using his legal right, approaches higher court against his sentence and also starts approaching the victim’s family for forgiveness.
“In many cases the victim’s family gives up the legal fight in higher courts, mostly because of financial issues. Noor Mukadam’s family, however, is financially stable and can afford a legal fight if Zahir approaches the higher courts against his death sentence,” he added.
Ahmed Hassan advocate, another legal expert, said many times higher courts convert death sentences into life imprisonment in Pakistan.
“We have many such examples. Qandeel Baloch’s murderer Waseem was also awarded a death sentence but after some time the court converted his sentence into life impressment. And recently, a court set him free,” he said.
However, he also cited the example of Imran Ali, the man who raped and murdered six-year-old Zainab in Kasur and who was ultimately hanged to death in October 2018 at Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat Central Jail.
So far, 88 countries have abolished the death penalty. About 30 countries can be considered abolitionist de facto as they retain the death penalty in law but have not carried out any executions for during the past ten years or more. October 10 is commemorated as the World Day against Death Penalty and
According to the available data, there are around 3,900 prisoners facing death penalty in Pakistan. Out of them, 2,902 are in Punjab including 2,879 men and 23 women. There are 363 death-row prisoners in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and one of them is a woman. There are 519 death-row convicts in Sindh including 5 women. Forty seven (47) men are on the death row in Balochistan.
A segment of the civil society has been vociferously demanding capital punishment for Zahir in Noor Mukadam case and the trend “Justice For Noor Mukadam” really caught on in November last year. However, another segment of the civil society is against death penalty in Pakistan and strongly opposes it.
Zahir is also a US national. In September 2021, a gift package containing books, clothes, perfumes and cosmetic items was sent by the US Embassy in Islamabad for Jaffer in Adiala Jail. This package was, however, sent back, according to the superintendent of the jail.
