ISLAMABAD: Zahir Jaffer, a prime suspect in last year’s grisly murder of 27-year-old Noor Mukadam, on Wednesday pleaded not guilty to the killing, saying he was innocent and wrongly implicated in the case.

Mukadam, a former Pakistani diplomat’s daughter, was found beheaded in Islamabad’s upscale F-7/4 neighborhood in July last year. The murder sparked public outrage and grabbed media attention unlike any other recent crime against women. Jaffer was arrested from the crime scene, his residence, on the day of the murder and has since been in custody. 

Others charged in the case include Jaffer’s parents, Zakir Jaffer and Asmat Adamjee, their three household staff, Iftikhar, Jan Muhammad and Jameel, and six employees of Therapy Works, a counseling 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.

The trial for the case is now in the concluding stage at Islamabad’s district court, where additional sessions judge Atta Rabbani has been conducting the hearings. 

At Wednesday’s hearing, the judge handed over a questionnaire to all the accused in the case to give  written responses to the allegations against them. He also gave the accused the opportunity to defend themselves against the charges presented by the prosecution.

“I am innocent,” Jaffer pleaded. “My parents and I are being implicated in this case because the unfortunate incident took place at my home.”

At an indictment hearing in October last year, Jaffer had pleaded guilty to the crime, telling the court: “I accept I have committed this crime, now it’s up to you to punish or forgive me … We quarreled, and we both were angry, and this all happened.”

On Wednesday, however, Jaffer’s counsel Usman Gill informed the court that Mukadam had arranged a “drug party” at Jaffer’s residence on July 20 as his parents were away in Karachi.

Mukadam and Jaffer, along with their other friends, consumed drugs, he added.

“I was not in my senses due to the overuse of drugs,” Jaffer said. “When my senses came back, I found myself tied up in the lounge of my house.”

“I found out later that somebody in the drug party or someone else had killed Noor Mukadam,” he said. Jaffer also said he was “rescued” from the crime scene by some uniformed police officials. 

He said the plaintiff of the case, Shaukat Mukadam, the victim’s father, was an influential person who had managed to falsely implicate him in the murder of his daughter with the help of police.

Jaffer also requested the judge to allow him to present evidence to prove his innocence in the court.

Explaining his association with Mukadam, he said he had a “living relationship” with the victim and their families knew each other for a long time.

“I didn't have any contact with Noor Mukadam for the last six months,” Jaffer said. “She came to my residence on July 18 on her own and asked me to arrange a drug party but I refused.”

He said that she invited her friends to his place for the gathering as well.

Jaffer said the victim carried “a huge quantity” of drugs to his house, adding that his flight to the US was booked on July 19, though Mukadam insisted he should cancel it since she also wanted to go with him.

He said that she contacted her friends to arrange the money to book the flight.

To a question about a DNA report regarding her rape, he said the report came positive since “we were in a relationship with mutual consent.”

Earlier, all other accused including Jaffer’s household staff submitted their statements in the court and pleaded not guilty to the crime.

The court will now resume the hearing on February 14.