ISLAMABAD: The defence counsel in Noor Mukadam murder case continued to cross examine Shaukat Ali Mukadam, father of the victim, for the second consecutive day.

The defence counsel asked Mr Mukadam that who was the complainant in the murder case and whether his daughter was at home when they had left on July 19 last year, a day before she was brutally murdered at Zahir Jaffer’s home.

Mr Mukadam said he presumed that Noor was at home, but she was not there.

Answering another question, Noor Mukadam’s father replied that his daughter had called her mother and informed her that she was going to Lahore with her friends.

But this conversation between Noor and her mother was not mentioned in the complaint, Mr Mukadam said.

He also told the court that the phone number of Noor’s mother was not mentioned in the complaint either.

He said Noor would leave home without informing them but later on she would let them know about her whereabouts.

Mr Mukadam said when Noor called him to inform that she was leaving for Lahore, she did not specifically mention with whom she was travelling.

He said he had not filed a report with the police after finding out that Noor’s phone was switched off.

Mr Mukadam said Zahir Jaffer called him on WhatsApp but he never told the investigating officer that he had received his Whatsapp call.

He said he had never stopped Noor from visiting Zahir’s house and never asked parents of the prime accused to stop her.

During the trial proceeding, policemen brought Zahir Jaffer to the courtroom on a chair from the bakshi khana, a temporary lockup, situated in the district courts.

At this a defence lawyer drew the attention of Additional District and Sessions Judge Atta Rabbani towards Zahir’s condition. The judge remarked that he had written a letter to the jail authorities ordering them to carry out his medical checkup.

Published in Dawn, January 18th, 2022