‘Noor was kept in captivity for 3 days’

Charge sheet says Zahir’s parents didn’t inform police despite knowing everything

ISLAMABAD:

The charge sheet in the Noor Muqaddam murder case has said that Zahir Jaffer, the main suspect, kept her captive for three days from July 18 and 20.

Islamabad Additional and Sessions Judge Atta Rabbani indicted 12 suspects based on the provisions of the charge sheet.

The trial court indicted 12 suspects in the case on 14 charges according to the charge sheet.

The court citing the specifics of the charge sheet said the victim jumped out of the window on July 20 evening and tried to escape captivity, but watchman Iftikhar and gardener Jan Muhammad stopped her at the gate. After this, Zahir dragged Noor back to the room and kept her captive.

Regarding the prime suspect Zahir, the court said that he was charged with murder, severing, kidnapping, confining and raping the victim.

Read IHC issues notice to Noor's father

The court said Zahir’s parents, Zakir Jaffer and Asmat Adamjee, were in contact with their son from Karachi on the mobile phone. Despite their knowledge of Noor being confined illegally by their son, they did not inform the police and were therefore charged with abetting the crime, the court said citing the charge sheet.

The court said that Zakir and Asmat were aware of their son’s intention of the murder, but they kept the police in the dark, which was a crime. It said that the parents directed Therapy Works CEO Tahir Zahoor to send his team to the house of the accused.

The charge sheet stated that since Zakir, Asmat, watchman Iftikhar, gardener Jan Muhammad, and cook Jamil Ahmed were aware of Zahir’s nefarious plans, it was obligatory for them to report the whole thing to the police, which they did not and which made them complicit in the crime.

Read more 12 indicted in Noor murder case

The court citing the charge sheet said that the Therapy Works chief sent his team to the crime scene after receiving the call from the prime suspect’s parents on July 20 and he too failed to inform the police.

It read that Tahir Zahoor sent his team members, Dilip Kumar, Wamik Riaz, Samar Abbas, Abdul Haq, and Amjad Mahmood, to Zahir’s place to destroy the evidence and protect the suspect from legal action. The court said that all indicted suspects have pleaded not guilty, while Zahir’s parents have yet to sign the charge sheet.

The order further said that the charge sheet was meant to tell an accused about the criminal charges levelled against him/her. The charge sheet is not and sentence but the beginning of a trial, the court said.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 17^th, 2021.