Trial court seeks more time to complete Noor Mukadam murder trial

ISLAMABAD: A local court in Islamabad hearing the high-profile Noor Mukadam murder case has requested the Islamabad High Court to grant it more time to complete the trail, local media reported on Monday.
Mukadam, the daughter of a Pakistani diplomat, was found beheaded at a residence in Islamabad’s upscale F-7/4 neighborhood last July. The key suspect, Zahir Jaffer, was arrested from the crime scene on the day of the murder and has remained in custody since.
The Islamabad High Court had last year ordered that the trial in the case be completed in two months.
“Additional Sessions Judge Atta Rabbani has written a letter to the Islamabad High Court seeking more time to complete the trial,” the Express Tribune newspaper reported. “In the letter, Judge Atta Rabbani has stated that since all lawyers representing the accused hail from outside Islamabad, the dates for the hearings have to be fixed according to their availability and convenience.”
“It was also stated in the letter that during the trial, various petitions were also heard which consumed the court’s time and, because of this, the trial court could not be completed within the stipulated time of two months,” the newspaper said.
At his indictment hearing in October, Jaffer admitted he had committed the “crime” but appealed to the judge to release him from jail and put him under house arrest.
The murder trial that began in October is one of the most closely watched in Pakistan’s recent history, as the case has sparked public outrage and grabbed media attention unlike any other recent crime against women.
Others charged in the case include Jaffer’s parents, Zakir Jaffer and Asmat Adamjee, three of their household staff, Iftikhar, Jan Muhammad and Jameel, and six workers from Therapy Works, a counselling center from where Jaffer had received certification to become a therapist and where he had been receiving treatment in the weeks leading up to the murder.