ISLAMABAD: A district and sessions court in Islamabad fixed October 14 for the indictment of suspects in the murder of the daughter of a former diplomat.
Noor Mukadam, 27, was found murdered at the residence of one Zahir Zakir in Sector F-7/4 of Islamabad in July. Zakir, widely believed to be the killer, was arrested the same day for his purported involvement in the gruesome incident.
Investigators say the two were friends, and Zakir lured Mukadam to his home, held her there for two days, and then brutally murdered her.
A first information report registered on the complaint of Ambassador Shaukat Ali Mukadam, Mukadam’s father, nominated Zakir under Section 302 (premeditated murder) of the Pakistan Penal Code.
A total of 12 people will be indicted in the case, including Zakir, his parents Zakir Jaffer and Asmat Adamjee, three household staff — Iftikhar, Jan Muhammad and Jameel — and six Therapy Works employees including Tahir Zahoor, Amjad, Dilip Kumar, Abdul Haq, Wamiq and Samar Abbas.
Jaffer and Adamjee were arrested days later on charges of abetting the murder and concealing material facts from the investigation team. Subsequently, they had approached a district and sessions court for bail — a request which was turned down.
Later, they approached the Islamabad High Court for bail which also rejected their petition and ordered authorities to keep them under detention until the completion of the trial.
They filed a fresh petition with the Supreme Court on Wednesday, requesting it to approve their bail application and set aside the September 29 order of the IHC.
The court had last month set October 6 for framing charges in the case, but deferred it after the suspects filed fresh petitions, seeking certain documents along with the copy of the challan.
This killing though, which touched a segment of society that is often thought to be immune to that systemic injustice, has sparked a public outcry, unlike any other recent case.
“The status of the families involved, especially the family of Zahir Jaffer, and of course Noor’s father being a former ambassador, and this happening within the elite circles of Islamabad […] all of that combined definitely has brought more attention to this case,” commented Nida Kirmani, Associate Professor of Sociology at the Lahore University of Management Sciences, said at the time.
Mukadam’s murder has become the most keenly reported femicide in recent history. Social media erupted with furious disgust, and there have been protests and vigils in major cities, as well as among the Pakistan diaspora as far away as Canada and the United States.
Facing public anger, the Jaffer family took out full-page advertisements in newspapers distancing themselves from the murder and calling for justice.
— With additional input from Reuters
