Noor's father testifies in court, seeks death sentence for Zahir Jaffer

Shaukat Mukadam says he had no personal enmity with anyone

ISLAMABAD:

Shaukat Mukadam, father of Noor Mukadam who was brutally killed in Islamabad's F-7 sector last year, testified in the trial court on Saturday and demanded capital punishment for prime suspect Zahir Jaffer over the murder of his daughter.

Twenty-seven-year-old Noor Mukadam, daughter of a former diplomat, was murdered and beheaded in Islamabad in July 2021. The police had charged Zahir Jaffer - a US national belonging to one of Pakistan’s wealthiest families - with murder.

At the outset of the hearing, Mukadam was asked to take an oath. He asked the court to forgive any misgivings as he was appearing before the court for the first time and didn’t know the protocol.

Mukadam said he had no personal enmity with anyone, adding that his daughter was unjustly murdered and the prime suspect, Zahir, should be sentenced to death over the murder. “My daughter was like any other Pakistani woman,” he said, recounting the details of the incident.

Mukadam said on July 19, when he along with his wife got home, Noor was not at home. Her phone was also powered off when they tried to call her out of worry, he said, adding that they started searching for her.

Read Court indicts Zahir Jaffer, parents

Eventually, Noor called back and said she was going to Lahore and that they shouldn’t worry about her, Mukadam said, adding that on July 20, Zahir called him in the afternoon and said that Noor was not with him.

“On the same day at 10pm, I got a call from Kohsar police station asking me to visit the police station as my daughter had been killed,” he told the court. Mukadam said police took him to a house that belonged to Zahir where he found Noor’s beheaded body.

According to Mukadam, he identified the body and gave his statement to the investigation officer ASI Zubair Mazhar and also signed off on a report concerning Noor’s death.

Mukadam said he was called by the police on July 23 regarding the investigation and recovery of Noor’s mobile. “When I went to the police station the next day, Zahir revealed to the police that he called over Noor on July 18 and seized her mobile before killing her,” he said, adding that police found Noor’s mobile from Zahir’s residence.

TherapyWorks lawyer Akram Qureshi and co-accused Zakir Jaffer's lawyer cross-examined Noor's father as well.

Zahir Jaffer's lawyer was not present in the court as he had contracted Covid-19. The case was adjourned till Jan 17.