Noor Mukadam case: Justice comforts father of victim, tears on face of killer’s mother

ISLAMABAD: There was no place to sit in the small crowded courtroom of 30x30 on Thursday. Lawyers, journalists, plaintiffs and defendants were present in front of the judge’s wooden bench.

When the clock on the wall behind the judge’s chair struck 1:30 pm, Additional Sessions Judge, Islamabad, Muhammad Ata Rabbani, stepped in a dignified manner and sat in his chair. The anxious plaintiff and the accused were staring at the judge with hope in their eyes. It was time for the verdict of a historic trial of the murder of 28-year-old Noor Muqadam, who was beheaded in a posh locality of Islamabad.

Following the police investigations, former Attorney General Shah Khawar and his junior Nisar Asghar, Advocate, representing the father of the slain girl Shaukat Muqadam, a former diplomat, pursued the case. Strikingly, both the prominent lawyers were not present in the room.

When I arrived in the court on Thursday morning at around 8:30am, the District Additional Sessions Judge Ata Rabbani held a brief hearing and said that he would announce the verdict at half past one. At that time, the mother of Zahir Jaffer, Noor’s killer, Asmat Adamji, was present in the court. Police had also named Adamji and her husband Zakir Jaffer as co-accused in this heinous murder. Asmat Adamji was bailed out but her husband remained behind the bars.

At about eleven o’clock, the judge reappeared and ordered the court staff to bring the accused as he wanted to have a word with them separately. He ordered unrelated persons, including journalists and some of the lawyers, to leave the room. Shortly afterwards, the police entered the courtroom and handcuffed Zahir Jaffer was brought under tight security. The other accused in the case also appeared.

Police in their investigations had declared Zahir Jaffer the main accused and 11 others as accomplices in this case, including his parents (who were in Karachi at the time of the murder). Islamabad’s Margalla Police Investigating Officer Abdul Sattar had also accused the security guard Iftikhar and gardener Jan Mohammad, the employees working at the home of Zakir Jaffer, of being involved in the crime. Both had stopped Noor Muqadam from trying to save her life from fleeing the house on July 19th, 2021. They actually helped Zahir Jaffer to keep her confined. Police investigators had also named Jamil, the cook of the house, as an accused.

Similarly, Tahir Zahoor, owner of a private mental therapy company and six employees of the same company who arrived at his house on July 20, 2021 soon after the murder on the instructions of Zahir Jaffer’s parents from Karachi, were also named as abettors of this murder.

Amjad, one of the employees of the therapy company who came to the house that day, was attacked by Zahir Jaffer with a sharp knife, seriously injuring him, was also placed on the list of accused by the police.

Judge Muhammad Atta Rabbani came to the court at half past one and as soon as he came, he asked, “Have the accused arrived?” Someone said, yes. The judge again asked whether the arrested accused have also come. “Sir, they are coming,” someone responded from the back side in the room. The judge first called Ismat Adamji, then Muhammad Jameel (cook), Tahir Zahoor (CEO of therapy company) and six other employees of the same company, Wahimk, Dilip Kumar, Abdul Haq, Samar Abbas and Amjad and then said, “You all are acquitted, the names I have announced are free”. Ismat Adamji, the mother of the killer Zahir Jaffer, was expressionless while Shaukat Muqadam, the father of the slain girl, was still staring at the judge rather in disbelief. His brother and a friend were standing next to him.

“Now I am announcing the sentence,” the judge said. “Zahir Jafar, death penalty,” the judge said calmly. “Iftikhar Ahmed and Jan Mohammad are hereby sentenced to 10 years in prison, the rest are acquitted.”The judge handed down the sentence. People standing with Shaukat Muqadam were speaking in his ears. Zahir Jafar’s mother, standing right in front of the judge’s rostrum, almost a feet away from me, turned her back on the judge and slowly started walking towards the outer door and passed by me. She was sobbing while leaning towards the woman who had come with her. Soon afterwards, a woman in the courtroom began to shout that Zahir Jafar’s mother should also be hanged with her son. However, Ismat Adamji quickly got out.

Meanwhile, the police brought handcuffed Zahir Jafar to the court. He was tense and looking at the judge seriously. The judge told him that he was sentenced.As I came out of the court, I saw Shaukat Muqadam coming out of the courtroom. He was with his brother and a friend. Muqadam said the trial court’s ruling was a victory for justice. Someone told me later that his wife had not come to the court.