After four months of trials, a sessions court in Islamabad made a ruling on the Noor Mukadam murder case, sentencing the accused, Zahir Jaffer, to death. Jaffer’s employees Muhammad Iftikhar and Muhammad Jan were also sentenced to 10 years in prison for abetting the crime. Additional Sessions Judge Atta Rabbani acquitted Jaffer’s parents, Zakir Jaffer and Ismat Adamjee, as well as other suspects in the case including Therapy Works employees, from charges of abetment.
Jaffer’s death sentence represents a monumental moment in a femicide case that has captivated Pakistan for months following the murder in Islamabad in July. Mukadam’s murder enraged many who saw the situation as an extension of Pakistan’s problems with gendered violence and sexual abuse. After the ruling last week, the court’s decision to hang Jaffer has been applauded, but some worry acquittal rulings are letting his parents and others off the hook.
Jaffer has been sentenced to death under section 302(b) (premeditated murder) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC). However, Jaffer’s death sentence is subject to confirmation by the IHC. The court also found Jaffer guilty of rape and sentenced him to 25 years in prison along with a fine of Rs. 200,000 under section 376 (punishment for rape) of the PPC. According to the order, he is directed to pay Rs 500,000 as compensation to the legal heir of the deceased as required under section 544-A of the CPC (Criminal Procedure Code). Jaffer has also been sentenced to 10 years in prison and fined Rs. 100, 000 under section 364 (kidnapping with the intent to murder) and one year in prison under section 342 (wrongful confinement).
According to the judge’s order, Jaffer is allowed to appeal the verdict within seven days. The judge also noted that the prosecution had successfully proved the guilt of the accused Muhammad Iftikhar, the Jaffer’s watchman, and Muhammad Jan, the family’s gardener, for abetting Jaffer in abducting Mukadam. Iftikhar and Jan were sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment and fined Rs 100,000 each.
The judgment noted that the defense failed to establish that the dead body was not recovered from Jaffer’s room to prove that the murder was done somewhere else. According to forensic toxicology reports, no drugs or poison were detected in the stomach and liver of the deceased, but DNA found in Mukadam’s body matched Jaffer’s. "The medical evidence also supports the prosecution version as the cause of death is lack of blood supply to the brain due to separation from head from the body,” the judgment says. “The defense evidence as well as point raised by defense side has no weightage in front of the heavy flow of the prosecution evidence"
The judgment said that the prosecution evidence makes it clear that the accused Zahir Jaffer was found in the room of the murder along with the dead body. It said the accused murdered Mukadam in his room situation in the upper portion of the house. He committed the crime with a swiss army knife by separating Mukadam’s head from her body. The weapon used to commit the crime was also recovered from the scene. According to the judgment, all these aspects establish that the accused intentionally murdered Mukadam.
The court also said that the evidence further reveals that the accused Jaffer kept Mukadam in his room for two days between July 18 and July 20 last year. During this time, she made multiple attempts to flee but was overpowered by Jaffer who also raped her. His DNA was found in the semen in Mukadam’s body.
During the trial proceedings, the courts said the state counsel tried to get the accused to be declared mentally ill to save him from legal punishment. However, the application was dismissed on January 5. After this the state counsel made another application 10 days later asking for medical treatment for Jaffer, saying the original application was sent to the jail superintendent with direction to get the accused medically examined in the jail hospital. Jaffer was medically examined in the jail hospital and the medical report from January 17 was sent to the court. According to the judgment, the medical officer of the jail hospital found the health of the accused to be satisfactory.
The court also said that there’s sufficient evidence to show that Jaffer’s mental and physical health has not changed since the murder took place in July. The judgment said that CCTV footage from Jaffer’s house shows the manner and movement of a healthy person. “He looked like a well-oriented person. No previous medical history regarding the mental health of the accused was produced before the Magistrate and before the trial court" Senior lawyers believe that the defense may again raise this issue before the appellant forum in the Islamabad High Court.
The court said that the accused Muhammad Iftikhar went to the basement and Muhammad Jan remained at the main gate. Mukadam tried to open the gate but was stopped by Jan. The judgment said Jaffer reached the gate and forcibly took Mukadam to his room and abducted her with the intent of confining her and murdering her. In this scenario, Iftikhar and Jan facilitated the accused by not intervening in the abduction.
Evidence in the case further reveals that Iftikhar and Jan failed to inform the police and later concealed this fact. The judgment said Iftikhar and Jan watched Jaffer’s cruel treatment of Mukadam and did not bother to call the authorities, which was their legal and moral duty. The servants claim they did not know what was happening in the room, nor were they in a position to go against their employer. A senior lawyer, who has expertise in criminal laws, said he believes a ten-year sentence for the guard and gardener is severe.
The court said that the prosecution failed to establish a case against accused Zakir Jaffar, Asmat Zakir Jaffar, Tahir Zahoor, Dileep Kumar, Wamiq Riaz, Abdul Haq, Samar Abbas, Jamil Ahmad, and Amjad Mahmood, who are all acquitted of the charges leveled against them. The family’s cook, Jamil Ahmed, did also not receive a sentence. According to the prosecution, Jaffer’s parents were in contact with their son and had knowledge of his murder plan but did not inform the police.
However, Jaffer’s parents were in Karachi at the time of the murder, and the judgement said that there was not sufficient evidence to show that they help their son plan or carry out the murder. “Without text message, voice message/conversation it cannot be presumed that the accused Zakir Jaffer and Asmat Zakir while sitting in Karachi had facilitated and abetted their son in commission of murder, abduction, wrongful confinement,” the judgment said. As a result, the court said it could not convict them for helping Jaffer commit the crime. The complainant’s side has decided to file an appeal in the Islamabad High Court against the acquittal of Jaffer’s parents.
Accused Therapy Works staff Dileep Kumar, Wamiq Riaz, Samar Abbas, Abdul Haq, and Amjad Mahmood were also acquitted due to insufficient evidence from photo records to show they helped plan or carry out the murder.
Salman Safdar, a lawyer who specializes in criminal law, lauded the trial court’s speedy and bold judgment in this case. He said the acquittal of Jaffer’s parents was a courageous decision after another court previously rejected the father’s bail. Even after awarding a death sentence to Jaffer, Additional Sessions Judge Islamabad Muhammad Atta Rabbani raised serious questions about the police investigation of the case. He cited possible irregularities by the Investigation Officer showing favor to the accused.
In its judgment, the trial court noted that the defense raised many technical objections to the way the investigation was carried out, pointing out loopholes in the investigation and saying the police witnesses made contradictory statements regarding the time of the arrival of the police officers at the murder scene. This judgment questioned whether a defective investigation is enough to spoil the case of the prosecution and complainant.
However, the court ultimately found that the contradictions and discrepancies were not fatal to the case of the complainant. The judgment said that the prosecution had produced sufficient evidence, with help from forensics, to establish its case that Mukadam was killed by Jaffer in his room.