An Islamabad trial court has ordered the investigation officer to unseal the CCTV footage and give copies to the lawyers representing Zahir Jaffer and his parents, Asmat and Zakir Jaffer in the Noor Mukadam murder case, it was reported on Thursday.

The directives were issued by the sessions court following the request of the investigation officer to unseal the CCTV footage.

Judge Atta Rabbani said the decision to hand over the video footage, wherein Noor could be seen entering the house where she was murdered, was taken on directives of the Islamabad High Court (IHC).

Transcripts of footage provided

Earlier this week, the defence was provided with copies of the transcript of the footage.

A brief transcript of the CCTV footage of Noor Mukadam murder. According to the description, Noor could be seen entering the house of Zahir Jaffer, the prime suspect, at 10:18pm on July 18 while talking on the phone. As she entered the house, watchman Iftikhar could also be seen in the video footage.

Then, Zahir Jaffer and Noor Mukaddam could be seen exiting the house at 2:40am with bags and then re-entering it after keeping them in a taxi.

In another clip, Noor Mukadam could be seen running towards the main gate of the house barefoot and desperately before watchman Iftikhar shut the gate at her.

According to the transcript, Zahir Jaffer appears at the gate and grabs the victim, who pleads to let her go. Zahir Jaffer drags Noor inside the house and at 2:46 am, both were seen leaving the house in the taxi, parked outside the house.

At 2:52 am, they both return and enter the house with the bags they had earlier kept in the taxi while the watchman Iftikhar could be seen opening the gate for them.

At 7:12 pm, Noor could be seen jumping off the first floor and falling on the grill of the ground floor with her mobile phone. Then she hobbles towards the main gate, but the watchman and another man, who was later found out to be the gardener, closes the door before Zahir Jaffer, who could be seen jumping from the terrace of the first floor and running, grabs her.

He could be seen locking the victim in a cabin built inside the house and then opening it and snatching the victim’s mobile phone. Then, the suspect dragged her inside the house.

At 8:06pm, a five to six members team of Therapy Works could be seen entering the house at 8:42pm and attempting to enter the house.

The Therapy Works team could be seen coming out of the house with an injured person at 8:55pm.

Indictment

At an earlier hearing, a district and sessions court in Islamabad indicted 12 accused for their alleged involvement in the murder of Noor.

Besides Zahir, the court framed charges against his parents, their three household staff, Iftikhar, Jan Muhammad and Jameel, and six Therapy Works employees, identified as Tahir Zahoor, Amjad, Dilip Kumar, Abdul Haq, Wamiq and Samar Abbas.

Of the accused, the six Therapy Works employees, who are currently on bail, appeared before the court in their personal capacity. The remaining suspects were brought to the court from Adiala jail.

Background

Noor, 27, was found murdered at a residence in Islamabad's Sector F-7/4 on July 20.

A first information report (FIR) was registered later the same day against Zahir, who was arrested from the site of the murder, under Section 302 (premeditated murder) of the Pakistan Penal Code on the complaint of the victim's father, Shaukat Ali Mukadam.

Zahir's parents and household staff were also arrested on July 24 over allegations of "hiding evidence and being complicit in the crime". They were made a part of the investigation based on Shaukat's statement, according to a police spokesperson.

Later, Zahir had confessed to killing Noor while his DNA test and fingerprints also showed his involvement in the murder.

This article was first published in Business Recorder on Nov 11, 2021