Evil girlfriend killer sentenced to death
A Pakistan court sentenced the scion of a wealthy industrialist family to death for raping and beheading his girlfriend in a murder that sparked an outcry over the brutalising of women in the deeply patriarchal nation.
Pakistani-american Zahir Jaffer, 30, attacked Noor Mukadam at his Islamabad home in July last year after she refused his marriage proposal – torturing her with a knuckleduster and using a “sharpedged weapon” to behead her.
Mukadam, the 27-year-old daughter of a former ambassador, made repeated attempts to flee the sprawling mansion but was blocked by two members of Jaffer’s staff.
“The main accused has
been awarded the death sentence,” judge Atta Rabbani announced at the Islamabad district court.
Jaffer’s parents, Zakir Jaffer and Asmat Adamjee, were found not guilty of attempting to cover up the crime.
The two staff members were sentenced to 10 years in prison for abetting murder.
“I am happy that justice has been served,” said Shuakat Mukadam, Noor’s father, while vowing to challenge the acquittal of Jaffer’s parents.
The case prompted an explosive reaction from women’s rights campaigners reckoning with the pervasion of violence against women.
The shocking nature of the murder, involving a couple
from the privileged elite of Pakistani society, led to pressure for the trial to conclude swiftly in a country where the justice system is notoriously sluggish and cases typically drag on for years.
According to the Asma Jahangir Legal Aid Cell, a group providing legal assistance to vulnerable women, the conviction rate for cases of violence against them is lower than 3 per cent.
Targets of sexual and domestic abuse are often too afraid to speak out, and criminal complaints are frequently not investigated seriously.
“Convictions have been dismally low for victims, making today’s guilty verdict all the more significant,” said
Amnesty International campaigner Rimmel Mohydin.
The court verdict dictates Jaffer be “hanged by his neck till he is dead”. However, he was also given a concurrent sentence of 25 years in prison for abduction and rape.
He will be able to challenge the verdict.
Executions have rarely been carried out in Pakistan in recent years, making it likely that Jaffer will only serve jail time.
Jaffer was thrown out of court several times during the trial for unruly behaviour. He was frequently carried into proceedings by stretcher or wheelchair, and his lawyers argued he should be found not “mentally sound”.