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Express Tribune
19 hours ago
- Express Tribune
The rot that killed Sana Yousaf was never hiding
They say history is a great teacher. Unless, of course, we are talking about the treatment of women in Pakistan. In that case, the lessons rarely seem to stick. It is not that we forget what happened. In fact, on May 20 when the Supreme Court upheld Zahir Jaffer's death sentence, we proudly reposted '#JusticeForNoor'. We like the same photo of Zainab Ansari that makes the rounds on social media on her death anniversary, as many still comment that her killer should have been publicly hanged. We even speak of Qandeel Baloch's name with bated breath, recounting how unfortunate it was every time we see her picture make it back to our timeline. And now, we chant for 17-year-old Sana Yousaf. We demand the harshest punishment for her killer, calling for his swift execution, insisting that he be made an example of. We post her pictures with teary captions, share videos of her smiling, and ask: how a girl so young could be taken so violently. Outrage, by now, is a choreography we have learned by heart. And we really do mean it. And still, there is always another girl. And then another. And then another. And make no mistake, there always will be. Because ours is not a history of lessons learned - it is rot that keeps returning, like a cancer that festers in any corner it can find. 'Jaisi karni, waisi bharni' Allow us to demonstrate. On June 3, just hours after it was confirmed that Sana's murder was an act of hatred by Umar Hayat for rejecting his 'friendship' proposal, social media was flooded with supportive comments. However, as the story goes, the sceptics eventually began to creep. One comment appeared. Then another. Then a third. But why was she on TikTok to begin with? Where are her parents? She must have had some involvement in this. So, what started as a clear case of rage on femicide by any definition of the word, swiftly flattened into a PR-friendly lecture on how girls should behave. Inevitably, rolling the red carpet for everyone's favorite pseudo-moralists, who, true to form, reach for their most iron-clad, tight-fisted defence: the Islam card. This ranged from throwaway one-liners about the necessity of modesty, casually dropped into comment sections, to full-blown fanatics spewing the most vile vitriol, calling for the swift 'erasure' (being generous here) of all such women, because they are the ones spreading 'fahaashi', leading society astray and betraying the word of God. Ironically, they consistently fail to acknowledge what Islam actually teaches: that there is no compulsion in religion, that justice is sacred, and that the burden of wrongdoing lies not on the victim, but the oppressor. But nuance, of course, rarely trends. Neither does picking a side, because celebrities with mammothian platforms, sweeped in at just the right time to provide half-baked statements of condemnation while simultaneously preaching the dangers of social media, the importance of privacy, and how young girls should be careful. Only a few and far between had the courage to call a spade a spade: a man felt entitled to a girl's life and he took it. It is not just the social media echo chamber that is pushing this narrative, too. Just last week, Justice Ali Baqir Najafi stood in the Supreme Court, following Jaffer's sentencing and described Noor's case as a warning against live-in relationships. Unfortunate and disgusting sure, but a cautionary tale, nevertheless. And so, the case of a woman who was tortured, killed, and beheaded became, somehow, a parable about lifestyle choices inviting danger. And the cancer does not stop at the courtroom. We saw this unfold in real time with the Dua Zehra case, where large media outlets and mainstream journalists after expressing their concerns, speculated on her character, questioned her sanity, painted her as rebellious, and amplified every salacious detail they could find. Our silent complicity Perhaps the most devastating betrayal comes when these words are repeated by our own. At the dinner table, the cancer lives in our mothers, who mourn the news as it plays on the television and then reinforce this is why girls should stay home. It grows in our grandmothers, who agree with them, sighing 'in my day girls stayed quiet.' It breathes in our cousin commenting, 'this happens when girls don't stay within their limits'. It thrives in phrases like, 'apni izzat apne haath' (you are the guardian of your own honour). Undeniably, while there is some truth to the notion that we have a degree of control over the respect we receive from those around us, more often than not, this phrase is used in a deceptive way to teach young girls something far more insidious. It becomes a subtle, almost palatable way of implying: 'What happened to you is sad but if you hadn't done this or that, you wouldn't have invited this trouble; maybe you could have saved yourself.' So the point we arrive at is this: despite what we like to tell ourselves, these are not bad apples, or an 'uneducated' few. This is the symptom of a society suspended in a coma, where shock is expected, but action is absent. Each time a woman's name becomes a headline, we jolt awake, shaken by our anger; we post tributes, we write captions, until slowly slipping back into a familiar sleep. The truth is, we live in a state of denial, of the unique willful kind, where we have learned to perform our grief. Public mourning has become our substitute for justice and expressions of solidarity have become our excuse to avoid confronting the systems and this has allowed this violence to happen again and again. Perhaps, at this point, this has paralysingly become our only choice. But at the very least, let us not pretend to be surprised. Let us not mourn Sana as if her death was unprecedented or unthinkable. The cancer that led us here is not new and it is not hiding. It has baked into our institutions, families, conversations and media. And it is now convincing us that our grief is enough. Which, for the record, it never was, and it never will be. Have something to add to the story? Share it in the comments below.
The Independent
21-05-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Pakistan's top court upholds death penalty for man who beheaded girlfriend
The Supreme Court of Pakistan has upheld the death penalty of an American citizen for beheading his girlfriend after she refused to marry him. Zahir Jaffer, the scion of one of the South Asian country's richest families, was convicted of murdering Noor Mukaddam at his home in Islamabad on 20 July 2021. A murder investigation revealed that Mukaddam had been held captive, tortured and raped before being beheaded with a 'sharp-edged weapon'. Mukaddam, the daughter of Shaukat Mukaddam, Pakistan 's former ambassador to South Korea and Kazakhstan, was 27 when she was killed. She had made repeated attempts to escape the night of her death, only to be thwarted by the house staff. Jaffer was given the death penalty in 2022 while a guard and a gardener at his house were each sentenced to 10 years in prison for assisting in the murder. A three-member Supreme Court bench led by Justice Hashim Kakar on Tuesday upheld the death sentence given to Jaffer. Judge Kakar observed that "a daughter was mercilessly murdered", according to Dawn. The court, however, commuted Jaffer's death penalty for rape to life imprisonment. In their previous appeals, Jaffer's lawyers had contended that no medical board was formed to assess his mental state. The high-profile case had sparked outrage over the lack of convictions for violence against women in Pakistan despite high incidence. Violence against women in Pakistan has been described as 'endemic'. According to AGHS Legal Aid Cell, less than 3 per cent of perpetrators are convicted. 'This is a victory for all the women of Pakistan. It shows that our justice system can deliver justice and should give women more confidence in the legal process,' Shafaq Zaidi, a childhood friend of Mukadam, was quoted as saying by news agency AFP. 'This was our last resort, and it is hard to put into words what this outcome means to us.' Zainab Shahid, a lawyer, said Jaffar's death sentence brought a sense of justice and closure. 'It marks a departure from high-profile cases of violent crime in the past where perpetrators were acquitted by the highest appellate forum due to errors or failures by law enforcement agencies and state prosecutors in the investigative, evidentiary and trial stages of the case,' she told Dawn. 'This verdict is a rare victory for the women of Pakistan and the protection of their lives against gender-based violence.' A group of Mukkadam's friends who run the page "Justice for Noor" on X said the verdict was a reminder that "women's lives matter and their voices will be heard". "This is not just for Noor,' they said, 'it's for all women of Pakistan.'
South China Morning Post
21-05-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
Pakistan-American's death sentence for beheading girlfriend upheld: ‘victory for all women'
Pakistan 's Supreme Court has upheld the death penalty for a man who beheaded his girlfriend in a case that prompted an explosive reaction from women's rights campaigners. Pakistani-American Zahir Jaffer, the son of a wealthy industrialist, attacked 27-year-old Noor Mukadam at his sprawling Islamabad mansion in 2021 after she refused his marriage proposal – torturing her with a knuckle-duster and using a 'sharp-edged weapon' to behead her. 'This is a victory for all the women of Pakistan. It shows that our justice system can deliver justice and should give women more confidence in the legal process,' Shafaq Zaidi, a childhood friend of Mukadam, said outside the court on Tuesday. 'This was our last resort, and it's hard to put into words what this outcome means to us.' Jaffer, in his early thirties, was convicted of rape and murder in 2022 , but his legal team appealed arguing that he was suffering from mental health issues. Justice Hashim Kakar on Tuesday upheld the death penalty for murder but commuted a death penalty for rape to life imprisonment.
Express Tribune
20-05-2025
- Express Tribune
SC upholds Zahir Jaffer's death sentence
The apex court has upheld the death sentence of Zahir Jaffer, who killed and beheaded his girlfriend Noor Mukadam in July 2021 in his residence at one of Islamabad's upscale neighborhoods. A three-member regular bench of the Supreme Court led by Justice Muhammad Hasham Kakar and consisting of Justice Ali Baqar Najafi and Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim issued a short order after conclusion of arguments on an appeal filed by Jaffer against an order of Islamabad High Court (IHC). In February 2022, a district and sessions judge convicted Jaffer of murdering Mukadam, sentencing him to death along with 25 years of rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs200,000. The trial court also sentenced Jaffer's watchman and gardener, Muhammad Iftikhar and Muhammad Jameel, to 10 years in prison but acquitted all other suspects, including Jaffer's parents. The IHC on March 14, 2023 upheld the death sentence of Jaffer and also converted his 25-year jail term into another death penalty in a rape case. The Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld the death sentence of Zahir Jaffer for the charge of murder but commuted his death sentence for the charge of rape to life imprisonment. The court acquitted Jaffer of the kidnapping charge and ordered the release of his watchman and gardener. The court added that the detailed reasoning of the verdict will be issued later. Earlier, Jaffer's counsel Salman Safdar resumed his arguments contending that the entire prosecution case relies on CCTV footage recorded in the Digital Video Recorder (DVR) at Jaffer's residence. He maintained that the evidence against a suspect must be beyond reasonable doubt and the footage submitted in court cannot go beyond what has been presented. Safdar further stated that the prosecution attempted to play the footage in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) but it failed in doing so. Justice Hashim Kakar remarked that the CCTV footage being contested had already been accepted by the defense. He said the Punjab Forensic Science Agency also confirmed that the CCTV footage was neither tampered with nor manipulated. After Safdar's argument's, the defense counsel for the co-accused — a security guard and a gardener — began presenting arguments, stating that both were sentenced to ten years. The lawyer argued that the allegation against the co-accused was that they prevented the victim from leaving. Justice Ali Baqar Najafi noted that had the accused not restrained the victim, the outcome might have been different. The defense counsel claimed that aside from being present in the house, the guard and gardener committed no other crime. Justice Kakar observed that many facts in the case were undisputed and did not require further argument. He noted that it was an accepted fact that the convict and the victim were living together. He said such relationships are common in the west, not here. "Such living arrangements between a man and a woman are a misfortune in our society and go against both religion and morality," he said. He noted that even without the CCTV footage, the fact that Noor's body was found in the convict's home was enough evidence. Justice Najafi remarked that if awareness is to be raised, then youth should be informed of the dangers and consequences of live-in relationships. Justice Kakar added that the youth should also be warned about the harms of drug use. Noor Mukadam, 27, was found murdered with her head detached from her body at Jaffer's residence in Islamabad's Sector F-7/4 on July 20, 2021. A first information report (FIR) was registered later the same day against Zahir Jaffer, who was arrested at the site of the murder.
Arab News
20-05-2025
- Arab News
Pakistan top court upholds death penalty for Zahir Jaffer, convicted in grisly murder of Noor Mukadam
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Tuesday upheld the death penalty of Zahir Zakir Jaffer, a Pakistani-American, who was convicted of murdering 27-year-old Noor Mukadam, daughter of a former diplomat, a lawyer of Mukadam's father said. Jaffer, son of a wealthy industrialist, was sentenced to death in 2022 for the brutal killing of Mukadam, whose beheaded body was found in July 2021 at a residence in Islamabad's upscale F-7/4 sector. Last year, the Islamabad High Court upheld Jaffer's death sentence, originally handed down by a sessions court. Subsequently, he filed an appeal in the Supreme Court in April 2023, seeking to overturn the punishment. On Tuesday, Justice Hashim Kakar upheld the death penalty in the case that sparked nationwide outrage and became one of Pakistan's most widely followed trials involving violence against women. 'We are quite satisfied with the Supreme Court's decision as his death sentence in the murder case remained intact. It is a sense of relief for Noor's parents, relatives, and civil society,' Shah Khawar, who represented Mukadam's father, told Arab News. 'It was a very important case, as it involved the brutal murder of a young girl who was killed in an extremely violent manner. The family of the accused was financially very strong, so people believed they would be able to influence the court— but that was proven wrong today.' Khawar said the trial court had given the accused a death sentence for murder, 25-year imprisonment for rape, and 10-year imprisonment for abduction. 'When we appealed the decision in the High Court, his 25-year imprisonment for the rape case was also converted to a death sentence. The High Court also upheld his death sentence for murder,' he said. 'In today's decision, the Supreme Court upheld the death sentence for murder, commuted the death sentence for rape to 25 years of imprisonment, and acquitted him in the abduction case. Two of his servants, who had each been sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment, were released with the order that the time they had already served would count as their sentence.' 'Justice for Noor,' an advocacy page on Instagram run by Mukadam's friends, hailed Tuesday's verdict and said it was a 'powerful reminder' that women's lives matter. 'This is not just for Noor. This is for every woman in Pakistan,' it said. Khawar, who represented Mukadam's father Shaukat Mukadam, said the convict now has 'very limited' legal options left. 'One is to file a review petition, which will be heard by the same bench, offering very limited scope for any relief,' he said. 'The final step would be to file a mercy appeal before the President of Pakistan under Article 45. If they choose to pursue this option, the sentence will remain suspended until the mercy petition is decided.'
