The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has upheld the death sentence awarded by a trial court to Zahir Jaffer for murdering, and decapitating 27-year-old Noor Mukadam in Islamabad on July 20, 2021.
A two-member divisional bench of the IHC, comprising Chief Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan, has issued the verdict which was reserved on December 21, 2022.
The IHC had reserved a verdict in the high-profile murder case in which the prime accused, Jaffer, was sentenced to death after a long-drawn-out trial of over four months.
The trial court awarded a death sentence to Jaffer last February, while the two suspects Jan Muhammad and Muhammad Iftikhar — the gardener and security guard at Jaffer’s house — were awarded 10 years of imprisonment each.
Noor Muqaddam was found beheaded at a residence in Islamabad’s upscale Sector F-7/4.
Zahir Jaffer was arrested from the spot covered in blood.
The first information report (FIR) was registered the same day against accused Zahir Jaffer, 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.
During the trial, it was found that Noor Mukadam was held hostage for two days, tortured with a knuckleduster, then decapitated with a knife. Noor was raped before being murdered.
The grisly murder sparked widespread condemnation and protests across the country.
