Shaukat Ali Mukadam, the father of Noor Mukadam who was killed in 2021, has demanded a speedy trial of the case against the convict Zahir Jaffer.
“If such cases remained pending in the courts then they will lose their credibility,” he said at a press conference in Islamabad on Sunday. He was flanked by Inamur Rahim, the father of Sarah Inam, and a social activist.
The murder of Noor and Sarah was two of the high-profile cases in Pakistan. They were brutally murdered by men in their houses.
Noor, 27, was found murdered at Zahir’s residence in Islamabad’s upscale Sector F-7/4 on July 20, 2021. A court sentenced the suspect to death and awarded 10-year imprisonment to co-accused Mohammad Iftikhar and Jan Mohammad.
On March 13, 2023, the Islamabad High Court upheld the death sentence of Zahir in the case and converted his 25-year jail term into another death penalty.
But a month later, the convict challenged the IHC decision in the Supreme Court. His petition alleged that the conviction resulted from “erroneous appreciation” of the case evidence and the courts could not identify the “fundamental flaws” in the FIR.
While sharing his ordeal of going through the legal process, Shaukat said they ran after court for justice and a long trial of the case was conducted. “We were told that it was an open and shut case. We were told that there would be a fair trial,” he said.
The victim’s father said that now her daughter’s murder case was in the apex court and called for a speedy trial of the appeal.
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The victim’s father stated that Islamabad was a small city unlike Karachi and Lahore, adding that Zahir’s sister and Noor had many mutual friends. He shared that after Noor’s murder, many women feared that the convict could have also killed them as they used to visit his house to meet his sister.
Shaukat also spoke about the murder of Sarah Inam, saying that she was brutally killed.
Shaukat and his wife went to Inam’s house after the murder, he said, adding: “They were aware of the pain from which Inam’s family was going through.”
Sarah Inam, a Canadian national, was allegedly murdered by her husband in Islamabad on September 24, 2022. The accused, Shahnawaz Amir, is the son of renowned journalist Ayaz Amir. He was arrested on September 23 last year.
Shahnawaz was later sent on a judicial remand. He was indicted in the murder case on December 5, 2022.
Earlier this month, the father of Sarah ruled out any settlement with the defence and demanded that the culprit should be punished.
On Sunday, Inam said that his daughter used to take everyone’s comments at face value, explaining that Sarah believed what the people said.
“We used to tell her to see and review as people are not the way they pretend, but Sarah did not accept it,” he said and added that children usually do not tell everything to parents. “We later got to know from her friends and others what was happening and she had contact with Shahnawaz.”
