On Tuesday, a session court deferred its decision in the murder trial of Noor Mukadam’s chief suspect, Zahir Jaffer.
The session court, presided over by judge Atta Rabbani, said the verdict will be announced on February 24. The verdict was reached after both the defence and the prosecution presented their cases in the high-profile murder case. On July 20, Noor Mukadam, a 27-year-old woman, was killed within the Kohsar police station in Islamabad’s F-7 neighbourhood.
Zahir, the main suspect in Noor Mukadam’s murder, was charged with the offence by an Islamabad court in October 2021. Two of the family’s domestic staff, Jamil and Jan Mohammad, were also charged, as was Tahir Zahoor, the proprietor of Therapy Works, a counselling and psychotherapy firm.
The lawyer for the owner of Therapy Works and five other accused finished their closing arguments in the Noor Mukadam murder case during a prior hearing and begged with the court to acquit them.
Zahir Jaffer, the main suspect in the murder of Noor Mukadam, has denied committed the crime, saying at a hearing that he fell asleep and discovered Noor dead when he awoke. He pled not guilty to the murder, claiming that he was innocent and that Noor Mukadam’s family was attempting to frame him for financial gain.
Jaffer made a number of charges against Noor and her father, Shaukat Mukadam, in a written declaration given to the court. “Noor’s family was attempting to frame him in order to extort money from his wealthy family,” the lead defendant alleged in his written statement. He went on to say that Noor Mukadam had pushed her pals to attend a drug party.
Noor Mukadam was decapitated on July 20 in Islamabad’s F-7 neighbourhood in a gruesome crime. On the night of July 20, Islamabad police apprehended suspect Zahir Zakir Jaffer from his home, where he reportedly murdered her with a sharp object.