Medical board examines Zahir Jaffer in jail

ISLAMABAD: A two-member medical board from Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) conducted a physical and mental evaluation of Zahir Zakir Jaffer, the death row convict in the Noor Mukadam murder case, at Adiala Jail on Monday, jail authorities confirmed.

The board comprised Dr. Amir Naveed from the Neurology Department and Dr. Shafqat Nawaz from the Psychiatry Department of PIMS. Jail officials said the examination took place inside Central Jail Rawalpindi and was part of the legal process required before a mercy petition is submitted to the President of Pakistan.

Jail authorities said the medical board was constituted upon a formal request from the jail administration to the Director of PIMS. The board has been tasked with assessing the convict’s mental and psychological condition and will submit a report that is to be forwarded with the mercy petition to the President.

Officials also revealed that Zahir Jaffer was mentally sound at the time of his initial incarceration in Adiala Jail and had no history of psychiatric illness. However, after being sentenced to death by the trial court, he remained under treatment at the jail hospital for nearly two months before being declared fit and shifted to the death cell.