Sarah Inam, Noor Mukadam’s fathers seek quick justice

They say delay in punishing their daughters’ killers will make people lose their faith in judicial system

ISLAMABAD:

The fathers of Sarah Inam and Noor Mukadam, who tragically lost their lives, on Sunday passionately called for swift justice for their daughters. They expressed deep concern over the heinous nature of their daughters' murders and emphasized that any delay in holding the culprits accountable would erode public trust in the country's judicial system.

Sarah, a Canadian citizen, was allegedly killed by her husband, Shahnawaz Amir, the son of renowned journalist Ayaz Amir. Shahnawaz was apprehended on September 23 last year, accused of killing his wife at a farmhouse in Islamabad's Shahzad Town, just a day after her return from Dubai, where she had been working. He remains in police custody, as a district and sessions court indicted both him and his mother, Samina Shah, in December last year, in connection with the murder case.

On July 20, 2021, Noor, the daughter of former diplomat Shaukat Mukadam, was tragically found brutally murdered in Islamabad's upscale F-7/4 sector. Following the discovery of her body, Zahir Jaffer was arrested as the prime suspect in her case. On February 24, 2022, a trial court in Islamabad sentenced Jaffer to death for Noor's murder. He was also found guilty of rape and sentenced to 25 years of rigorous imprisonment, along with a fine of Rs200,000.

Inamur Rahim, Sarah’s father, accompanied by Noor’s father, former diplomat Shaukat Mukadam, at a news conference in Islamabad said that a year had passed since his daughter was killed and blamed the defence lawyers for the delay.

Read More: Noor Mukadam murder case: A timeline

He added that police supported them completely and the judge said this case should be finished as soon as possible, but it was still pending because of the defence lawyers as they came up with excuses for attending the hearings. He also blamed the defence lawyers for keeping the witnesses waiting.

Rahim regretted that an “open-and-shut” case had not reached its conclusion despite the passage of a whole year.

Read More: Main suspect ‘confesses’ to killing Sara Inam

Speaking on the occasion, Shaukat urged Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa to take notice of gender-based violence cases including those of Sarah and his daughter Noor.

He recalled that his family ran to the courts for justice and following a long trial, the murderer of his daughter was finally sentenced to death. He pointed out that a high court had also handed down the death penalty to the murderer twice and the case was now in the SC.

The former diplomat requested the SC to take up the case as soon as possible. He demanded that speedy trials should be conducted and the culprits should be meted out “exemplary punishments”.

Shaukat noted that until there was punishment, boys from influential families would consider themselves to be above the law. He stressed the need to send out a message to such individuals that no one was above the law, adding that it would not be possible until five or six of such people were hanged.

Shaukat observed that Sarah was murdered in a very brutal manner and he and his wife visited her family after the incident.

“We understood the pain these people were going through,” he continued. Both fathers broke down in tears during the news conference.