Latest news with #NoorMukadam
Business Recorder
a day ago
- Business Recorder
Noor Mukadam's murder case: SC urged to review judgement upholding death sentence of Zahir Jaffer
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court has been asked to review its judgment upholding the death sentence of Zahir Jaffer for the gruesome murder of Noor Mukadam. Zahir Zakir Jaffer on Wednesday, through senior lawyer Khawaja Haris Ahmed, filed a review petition against the Supreme Court's judgment dated May 20, 2025. The petitioner contended that the judgment dated 20-05-2025 relies heavily upon the video recordings, and on that basis the capital punishment of the petitioner has been upheld, without taking into account that neither the DVR nor the hard disk stand proved during the course of the trial. 'On the contrary, the portions of these so-called recordings, on the basis whereof the inference of 'last seen' has been drawn against the petitioner, were never played during the trial,' it added. He maintained that during the proceedings in the appeal before the Islamabad High Court (IHC) when the hard disk was required to be played it was empty, while DVR was never played, rather portion of video clip in USB, provided by one of the appellant's counsel was played and made the basis of the judgment in the appeal. The USB is neither primary evidence, nor its authenticity is vouchsafed by any forensic report. He submitted that DVR and hard disk is not proved by PFSA's forensic report as per the law prevalent at the relevant date and time, as neither the scribe nor the executant (concerned forensic expert) entered into witness box to authenticate the same on oath, therefore, the PFSA's forensic report has no credibility. Khawaja Haris, who has drafted the review petition, stated that the judgment also suffers from an error apparent on the face of the record as it has not addressed the issue of unsoundness of mind or mental capacity of the petitioner that was raised before the apex court during the course of arguments by the petitioner's counsel. The petitioner's plea of unsoundness of mind or mental incapacity, though evident from his conduct and demeanour throughout the trial, was never given due weight or serious thought by the trial judgment, and even the IHC judges. He maintained that the record of trial court shows that the question of the mental capacity of the petitioner to stand trial was never taken or addressed seriously as mandated by the Supreme Court in inter alia Safia Bano's case. A three-member bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Justice Hashim Kakar, and comprising Justices Ishtiaq Ibrahim and Ali Baqar Najafi on May 20, 2025, upheld the death sentence of Zahir Jaffer for the gruesome murder of Noor Mukadam. It dismissed Zahir appeal against the IHC verdict. The death sentence in rape charge has been commuted to life imprisonment, and 10 years sentence in abduction charge has been reduced to one year. However, it maintained the earlier orders to Zahir to pay Rs0.5 million to Noor's legal heir. The bench also reduced the sentences of gardener Jan Muhammad and watchman Iftikhar, saying that the time the accused already served in jail is sufficient. Noor, aged 27 years, was found murdered at Zahir's Islamabad residence in July 2021, with the probe revealing she was tortured before being beheaded. Zahir's death sentence by the trial court was upheld by the IHC, which had also turned his jail term over rape charges into a second death penalty. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
Arab News
2 days ago
- Politics
- Arab News
Zahir Jaffer files petition for Pakistan top court to overturn death sentence for Noor Mukadam murder
ISLAMABAD: Zahir Zakir Jaffer, the man convicted of one of Pakistan's most harrowing femicide cases, has filed a review petition at the Supreme Court to overturn his death sentence for the 2021 beheading of Noor Mukadam. In the petition, filed under Article 188 of the Constitution and seen by Arab News on Wednesday, Jaffer argues that the May 2024 judgment upholding his death sentence contains 'mistakes floating on the surface of the record.' He alleges that the court failed to consider material facts and due process violations that, if reviewed, would prove his innocence. The petition argues that widespread social media coverage had fueled public hostility toward Jaffer during the investigation, trial, and appeals process, undermining his right to a fair trial. It also cites a ruling from another case to suggest that procedural errors occurred because the case was handled in haste. 'The impugned judgment may very graciously be reviewed, recalled and set aside,' the petition states, 'and the petitioner may very graciously be acquitted of the charges or in the alternate, may be ordered to be re-tried afresh.' The Supreme Court had previously declared the evidence against Jaffer 'overwhelming' and found no merit in his insanity defense. But in this final legal challenge, Jaffer's lawyers argue the case involved 'misreading and non-reading of material evidence,' and claim that he was denied a fair trial. Jaffer, a dual Pakistani-American citizen from a wealthy business family, was convicted of torturing and beheading Mukadam, the daughter of a former ambassador, at his Islamabad home in July 2021. The murder triggered national outrage, women-led protests, and rare scrutiny of elite impunity in Pakistan's legal system Jaffer was sentenced to death in February 2022 and lost appeals in the Islamabad High Court and Supreme Court. In its May ruling, the apex court said Jaffer had confined Mukadam for two days, ignored her pleas, and 'beheaded her in a gruesome manner.' 'All the evidence pointed squarely to the petitioner,' the justices wrote, citing testimony from guards, digital records, and Mukadam's attempts to flee the house. The scope of review petitions in Pakistan is extremely narrow and restricted to identifying legal errors, not reassessing facts. Unless the Supreme Court admits the review, Jaffer's last option will be a clemency request to the President of Pakistan, which the Mukadam family has vowed to challenge.
Arab News
4 days ago
- Politics
- Arab News
Noor Mukadam's murder: Zahir Jaffer to undergo medical evaluation ahead of filing mercy plea
ISLAMABAD: A medical board will evaluate this week Zahir Zakir Jaffer, convicted of the brutal murder of Noor Mukadam, as part of procedural requirements for his mercy petition before Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari, a senior jail official said on Monday. Mukadam, the 27-year-old daughter of a former diplomat, was brutally murdered by Jaffer at his Islamabad residence in July 2021, with investigations confirming she was tortured before being beheaded. A trial court sentenced Jaffer to death in 2022, a verdict later upheld by the Islamabad High Court in 2023. In May 2025, the Supreme Court also upheld the death penalty, leaving Jaffer with the only option of seeking a presidential pardon under Article 45 of the Constitution, which allows the president to grant clemency by pardoning, reprieving or commuting a sentence. 'The [medical] board is expected to visit Adiala jail within this week, most likely in the next two to three days, to conduct the medical and psychological evaluation of the prisoner,' Jail Superintendent Abdul Ghafoor Anjum told Arab News. Anjum said he had requested the director of the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) for the formation of the medical board after being informed by the convict's counsel that he intended to file a mercy petition before the president. 'It is entirely a routine matter as whenever a mercy petition is to be filed for any prisoner, we are required to conduct a medical and psychological examination,' he said, adding the matter was being dealt with strictly in accordance with rules. Officials at Adiala Jail sent two letters, dated July 8 and July 14, to PIMS, requesting the formation of the medical board. 'The appeal of above mentioned Confirmed Condemned Prisoner (Jaffer) was pending at [the] Supreme Court of Pakistan and the same has been dismissed,' read a letter, seen by Arab News. 'Now the mercy petition of [the] subject, cited confirmed condemned prisoner, has to be submitted before the Honourable President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. For that, the medical board and psychiatric board opinion is mandatory,' prison officials said in the letter, requesting PIMS management to schedule Jaffer's examination within the jail premises. PIMS constituted the medical board and named Dr. Shafqat Nawaz from the Psychiatry Department and Dr. Amir Naveed from the Neurology Department as its members, according to documents seen by Arab News. 'Following the board's report, the confirmed condemned prisoner, Jaffer, may proceed to file a mercy petition in accordance with the rules,' Anjum added. Mukadam and Jaffer, son of a wealthy industrialist, were widely believed to have been in a relationship which they had broken off a few months before her murder. Her shocking murder, involving members of the privileged elite of the Pakistani society, triggered an explosive reaction from women's rights activists reckoning with pervasive violence against women in Pakistan. It also mounted pressure for a swift conclusion of the trial in a country known to have a sluggish justice system and where cases typically drag on for years.
Express Tribune
04-06-2025
- Express Tribune
Brutality behind rejection
Listen to article Another young woman has been silenced, not by society's disapproval of her ambitions, but by its refusal to protect her from male entitlement and rage. The brutal murder of 17-year-old social media influencer Sana Yousaf in Islamabad, allegedly by a man who could not handle rejection, is a terrifying reminder that Noor Mukadam was not a tragic anomaly, but a chilling precedent. Sana, a teenager with a growing presence on TikTok and Instagram, had the right to chase her influencer dreams without fear of intimidation or harassment. But in Pakistan, a woman's visibility often becomes her vulnerability. Her very presence in the public eye — even digitally — is seen as an open invitation by men who equate admiration with ownership. And when denied, they turn violent. The Islamabad IG has rightly called this a case of 'repeated rejections'. But one cannot ignore the undoing of a society that fosters impunity for such acts. The problem lies not only in the crime, but in the culture that enables it. We raise boys without teaching them boundaries. We valorise hyper-masculine behaviour and mock the emotional vulnerability. We do not talk about consent — and when women enforce it, we call them arrogant or wayward. It is time for state institutions to implement strict online surveillance mechanisms to monitor stalking, bullying and digital harassment. We do not need to wait for the violence to spill into the physical world before we act. Digital footprints can and must be tracked, and red flags raised early before lives are lost. Cybercrime laws do exist, but enforcement is weak and inconsistent. Social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram also lack sufficient local responsiveness. Moreover, in such cases, policing must be swift and firm. But justice cannot end at an arrest or a death sentence. It must include reform — of laws, of police procedures and, most importantly, of minds.
Free Malaysia Today
03-06-2025
- General
- Free Malaysia Today
Pakistani TikTok star shot dead after ‘rejecting' man
Violence against women is pervasive in Pakistan, according to its human rights commission. (EPA Images pic) ISLAMABAD : Pakistani police on Tuesday said a 17-year-old TikTok star was shot dead by a man who had repeatedly contacted her online. Sana Yousaf, who turned 17 last week and had more than a million followers across her social media accounts, was killed at her home in the capital Islamabad yesterday evening. Police have arrested a 22-year-old on suspicion of her murder who spent hours loitering outside her home. 'It was a case of repeated rejections. The boy was trying to reach out to her time and again,' Islamabad police chief Syed Ali Nasir Rizvi said during a news conference. 'It was a gruesome and cold-blooded murder,' Rizvi added. Yousaf had more than 800,000 followers on TikTok, a wildly popular platform in Pakistan, where she posted lip-sync videos, skincare tips, and promotional content for beauty products. The last video posted on her account was hours before her murder, in which she was seen cutting a cake for her birthday. 'Rest in Peace' and 'Justice for Sana', read some comments under the video. Violence against women is pervasive in Pakistan according to the country's Human Rights Commission, and cases of women being attacked after rejecting marriage proposals are not uncommon. In 2021, 27-year-old Noor Mukadam was beheaded by her Pakistani-American boyfriend, Zahir Jaffer, after she rejected his marriage proposal in a case that sparked widespread anger. In 2016, Khadija Siddiqui survived being stabbed 23 times by a jilted ex-boyfriend.
