DNA
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court has upheld the death sentence of Zahir Jaffer, the convicted murderer in the Noor Mukadam case.
The apex court dismissed Jaffer’s appeal, maintaining the verdict handed down by the trial and high court. A three-member bench, led by Justice Hashim Kakar and comprising Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim and Justice Ali Baqar Najafi, issued the order in the high-profile case.
The Supreme Court’s ruling marks a major moment in the trial of the brutal murder of Noor, which took place in July 2021 — a case that sparked widespread outrage and prompted debate about justice and women’s safety in the country.
However, the court converted his death sentence under Section 376 (rape) to life imprisonment. Additionally, his conviction for kidnapping was overturned, with the sentence under that charge declared void.
Regarding Jaffer’s co-accused — the household staff — the court reduced the sentences of his watchman and gardener. It ruled that the punishments already served by both would suffice.
The case
Noor, 27, was discovered dead at a private residence in Sector F-7/4, Islamabad, on July 20, 2021. Zahir Jaffer, the primary suspect, was taken into custody at the crime scene and an FIR was filed by the victim’s father later the same day.
According to the original FIR, Noor’s father reported that she had been “beheaded after being killed with a sharp weapon” in a gruesome act that shocked the nation.
In February 2022, a district and sessions court sentenced Jaffer to death, alongside a 25-year prison term with hard labour and a fine of Rs200,000, concluding the trial that continued for over four months.
Besides the prime accused, two members of his domestic staff, Iftikhar and Jameel, were each handed 10-year prison sentences, while other co-accused — including Jaffer’s parents and several TherapyWorks employees — were acquitted.
In March 2023, the Islamabad High Court upheld Jaffer’s death sentence and upgraded his 25-year sentence to an additional death penalty, on the appeals filed against the punishment awarded to the convicts.
An appeal challenging the IHC verdict was subsequently filed in the Supreme Court in April last year.
Shaukat Mukadam, a former diplomat, had previously held a press conference on Noor’s birth anniversary, urging the apex court to expedite proceedings in the case that has remained pending for over 18 months.
