ISLAMABAD: The trial court on Thursday framed charges against 12 accused in the Noor Mukadam murder case, including Zahir Jaffer, the principal accused, and his parents.

Additional District and Sessions Judge Ata Rabbani read out the charges against the accused persons and handed them the charge sheets, but the accused pleaded not guilty.

However, Zakir Jaffer, father of the principal accused Zahir Jaffer, did not receive the charge sheet saying his lawyer was not present in the courtroom. The judge noted his contention and concluded the process.

During the proceedings, Zahir Jaffer continued interrupting the judge, begging for mercy.

Father of principal accused refuses to receive charge sheet in absence of his counsel

He admitted beheading Noor and said he did so “because she presented herself and was willing to be sacrificed.”

The body of the young woman was found at the residence of the main accused in Islamabad on July 20 this year.

The main accused said he cannot live such a pathetic life in jail, and begged the court either to set him free or hang him.

The private security guard of the main accused, Iftikhar, also begged the court for forgiveness. He said Noor and Zahir had been friends for a couple of years.

Zahir also begged pardon from the father of the deceased in the courtroom.

“My life is in your hands, you can save it, you can give me death sentence, but I don’t deserve such a miserable life in jail. I want to marry and bring up my children,” said the accused who committed one of the gruesome murders in the history of the federal capital.

Mr Mukadam told journalists inside the courtroom that Zahir was lying.

After indictment of the accused persons, the judge summoned the witnesses and adjourned further proceedings till October 20.

It may be mentioned that the police challan claimed that on July 20, Zahir Jaffer and Noor entered into a brawl after the latter refused to marry him and then the accused illegally detained her in a room of his house at F-7/4.

Referring to the Call Detail Record (CDR), the challan stated that before beheading Noor, Zahir made at least four calls to her parents at 2:21pm, 3pm, 6:35pm and 7:29pm. “Noor Mukadam could have been saved had Zakir Jaffer timely informed the police,” it said.

The challan stated that in order to conceal evidence and the dead body of the deceased, Zakir Jaffer sent five therapy workers to his residence - the crime scene.

When the therapy workers tried to enter the room, Zahir got confused and attacked them. One of the workers, Amjad Mehmood, got injured and was shifted to hospital. The injured worker lied to the hospital administration and did not register the incident in the medical slip. He mentioned the reason for his injury to be a road accident.

According to the challan, the parents and the therapy workers tried to conceal the crime and attempted to destroy the evidence.

Published in Dawn, October 15th, 2021