Zahir Jaffer, convicted for last year’s murder of Noor Mukadam and awarded the death penalty, on Tuesday filed an appeal in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) against his conviction. Last month, a Pakistani court sentenced to death Pakistani-American Jaffer for beheading her in July 2021 in a murder that sparked public outrage and grabbed media attention unlike any other crime against women in Pakistan.
A sessions court in Islamabad on Thursday sentenced Zahir Jaffer to death for the murder of Noor Mukadam. The court also found him guilty of rape under Section 376 and handed him 25 years of rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs200,000. Zahir’s household staff Mohammad Iftikhar and Mohammad Jan — both co-accused in the case — were sentenced to 10 years in jail.
Noor Muqaddam’s murder case has dominated headlines for over six months now. The counsel for Zahir Jaffer, the main accused has now said that it was possible that she (Noor) may have been killed for honour as she had a “living relationship” with Zahir. Sikandar Zulqarnain Saleem, the counsel for Zahir Jaffer, stated that the police did not quiz the only brother of the victim.