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Zahir Jaffer (centre), convicted to murder Noor Mukadam, arrives in a court in Islamabad. — AFP
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ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Thursday retained the death sentence of Zaheer Jafar on the murder of Noor Makadam, while partially changing other allegations in its final decision on the high profile case.
Jafar, the son of a wealthy industrialist, attacked 27-year-old Noor Makadam on his vast Islamabad Haveli in 2021-tortured him with no-headedrister and used a “sharp weapon” to shave his head.
A three -member bench, headed by Justice Hashim Kakar and headed by Justice Ashtiaq Ibrahim and Justice Ali Baqir Najafi, issued the order in a high profile case.
The Supreme Court’s decision has identified an important moment in the hearing of the brutal murder case of Noor – a case that gave rise to massive anger and gave rise to a debate about justice and protection of women in the country.
The Apex Court rejected Jafar’s appeal against his conviction under Section 302 (premature murder) of the Pakistan Code of Conduct, which upheld both his death and fine.
However, the court changed its death sentence to life imprisonment under Section 376 (rape). In addition, his conviction was reversed for his abduction, the charges were declared invalid.
Jafar’s co-operation-the domestic staff-the court reduced the punishment of his watchman and the gardener. He ruled that the sentences presented by both would be sufficient.
The 27 -year -old daughter of the former ambassador had repeatedly tried to avoid the night he was killed, but was stopped by two members of Jafar’s domestic staff.
“This is a victory for all women of Pakistan. This shows that our system can provide justice justice and give women more confidence in the legal process.”
“It was our last tactic, and it is difficult to keep in words what the result is for us.”
Today’s hearing
At the beginning of the proceedings, Zaheer’s lawyer Salman Safdar argued in defense of his client. Safdar argued that the whole case of the prosecution was pending on CCTV footage and DVR system.
He said the evidence against the appellant is beyond reasonable doubt. He added that the court cannot go beyond the footage presented as evidence.
“Failure to play footage presented by the prosecution in the Islamabad High Court,” he added.
Justice Kakar replied: “You have already accepted the CCTV footage which you are now objecting to.” He further said that the Punjab forensic science laboratory also confirmed that the footage had not been tampered with.
Justice Kakar remarked, “If a person’s footage was recorded, anyone can argue that the election parts were shown. But there is no human intervention in this case – the footage was recorded directly by the CCTV camera,” Justice Kakar remarked. Justice Kakar gave remarks.
After that, Safdar ended his arguments.
The lawyer, who represented the two sacred lawyer, began to present his case. He said the two were sentenced to 10 years in prison, and the allegation against them was that they prevented the victim from going.
Justice Najafi remarked: “If they did not stop the victim, the result would have been different.”
Defense of domestic staff argued that in addition to being at the residence, the watchman and the gardener did not commit any crime.
After arguing from the watchman and the gardener, Noor’s lawyer Shah Khwawar began to submit his submissions.
Justice Kakar noted that many facts have already been filed in this matter and there is no need to discuss further. Justice Najafi inquired whether Noor’s mobile phone was recovered. Khwaja replied that when the call record was present, the phone was not taken into custody itself.
Case
Noor, 27, was discovered in a private residence in Sector F -7/4, Islamabad on July 20, 2021. The initial suspect, Zaheer Jafar, was taken into custody at the site of crime and at the end of the same day, the victim’s father filed an FIR.
According to the original FIR, Noor’s father has reported that his head was beheaded after being killed with sharp weapons “in a horrific process, which surprised the nation.
In February 2022, a district and sessions court sentenced Jafar hard work to 25 years imprisonment and a fine of Rs 200,000, the end of the case continued for four months.
Apart from the main accused, two members of his domestic staff, Efte Khar and Jamil, each were sentenced to 10-year-old jail, while in other cases, Jafar’s parents and several therapy workers were acquitted.
In March 2023, the Islamabad High Court upgraded Jafar’s death sentence and upgraded his 25 -year sentence in additional death sentence, on appeals filed against the culprits.
An appeal challenging the IHC decision was later filed in the Supreme Court in April last year.
