Zahir’s call log shared in court

District and sessions court reserves verdict on parents’ plea

ISLAMABAD:

A district and sessions court in Islamabad on Wednesday reserved its decision on a bail petition by the parents of Zahir Jaffer. The parents were later sent on judicial remand till August 9 and subsequently moved a bail petition against their detention.

The parents' counsel Raja Rizwan Abbasi said that his clients publicly condemned the murder. He stated the parents were made a part of the investigation based on Zahir's statement in the first information report (FIR) and read it out.

He added that the parents did not know what was happening in the house where Noor and Zahir were present. He maintained that the prime suspect confessed that he had proposed to Noor but she refused.

He further informed that the suspect told his domestic workers, Iftikhar and Jameel, to not let anybody inside the room. He then attacked the victim and severed her.

The parents' counsel added that Zahir told the police that some people arrived at his house after which he got confused and he injured Amjad. He also hid Noor’s mobile phone in another room. He maintained that the suspect said in his statement that Zakir and Asmat helped their son.

At this, the petitioner's lawyer said that the suspect's statement cannot be submitted before the court as evidence. He remarked that his clients did not know what was happening inside their own house.

The prosecutor said that Zahir was not present at the house for three days but he did not inform the police. The suspect also confessed that his father said that they would handle the matter and the Therapy Works employees would dispose of the corpse, the lawyer commented.

Read Zahir Jaffer moved to Adiala Jail for 14 days

The parents' counsel claimed that the parents did not hide anything. He added that there was no call record neither any message was recovered which proved that Zahir’s parents knew about the incident.

He maintained that his clients sent their son to the US where he became an addict, adding that they called him back and sent him to the UK for treatment then. He added that the parents had also stopped his pocket money and that the suspect was solely responsible for his actions.

The prosecutor argued that a pistol was also recovered from the suspect and that it was registered in his father's name. The parents tried to save their child and the bail application should be rejected at this stage, he added.

The mother's lawyer Asad Jamal asked if anyone can be arrested on mere charges. The judge questioned if it was right to release a man for three days whose history is not good. Jamal added that Zahir is a 28-year-old man who used to make his own decisions and was living an independent life.

The judge remarked how come the suspect was independent when he received pocket money. Jamal stated, "We are not giving such in-depth arguments on this occasion”. However, he added that it was unimaginable for a mother that his son would kill anybody like that.

Shaukat Muqaddam's lawyer, Shah Khawar, argued that the father saw his daughter's body in the presence of the police, adding that CCTV and CDR records have been collected and they establish a connection.

The lawyer maintained that Zahir, his parents, Iftikhar, Jamil and Shaukat, and Noor Muqaddam's telephone calls were recorded and they are with the police.

He added that the suspect made two minute-long calls to his father in the evening after 6 pm of the day of the murder while a third call was made less than 10 minutes later that was 45 seconds long.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 5^th, 2021.