ISLAMABAD – Zahir Jaffer, US national of Pakistani origin who got death sentence for the murder, rape and beheading of the daughter of former bureaucrat Noor Mukadam, has approached Supreme Court against his sentence.
After getting no relief from a lower court, Mr. Jaffer has now filed an appeal in the Supreme Court against his death sentence, maintaining that High Court and the trial court could not find the basic flaws in the FIR. In his plea, Zahir’s counsel said that verdicts of the lower court were based on ‘erroneous appreciation of evidence’.
Death sentence on an FIR that is full of errors is against the basic principles of justice, Zahir said, adding that the evidence admitted is not admissible under the Evidence Act 1872.
The convict prayed before the country’s top court for annulment of the death sentence awarded to him by High Court. Last month, Islamabad High Court upheld his death sentence while converting his life imprisonment into death sentence.
The brutal killing of Noor Mukadam shocked the South Asian nation and prompted widespread protests calling for greater rights for women in male dominated society. Islamabad police found Noor Mukadam’s body at Jaffer’s house in July 2021 with the initial police report indicating she had been beheaded after sexual assault.
Zahir was apprehended first while his parents and staff were arrested on July 24 over allegations of hiding evidence and due to their involvement in the crime. The prime accused earlier confessed to killing Noor while his DNA test and fingerprints also showed his involvement in the brutal killing.
Pakistani court hands down death sentence to Zahir Jaffer in Noor Mukadam case
