ISLAMABAD: Zahir Zakir Jaffer, a Pakistani-American found guilty of murdering the daughter of a former diplomat, filed a petition in the Supreme Court of Pakistan on Sunday seeking the dismissal of the capital punishment against him.
In March 2023, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) upheld Jaffer’s death sentence by a trial court which found him guilty of killing and raping Noor Mukadam, the daughter of ex-Pakistani diplomat Shaukat Mukadam. The court also upheld the 10-year sentences of Zahir’s two accomplices in the case.
Mukadam, the daughter of a Pakistani diplomat, was found beheaded at a residence in Islamabad’s upscale F-7/4 neighborhood last July in a case that has sparked public outrage and grabbed media attention unlike any other recent crime against women. Jaffer, the key suspect, was arrested from the crime scene on the day of the murder.
During Jaffer’s trial, his lawyer asked the court to constitute a medical board to ascertain whether his client was of sound mind or not. The court, however, ruled that Jaffer was not suffering from a mental disorder and had used it as an excuse to “get rid of criminal liability.”
On Sunday, Jaffer’s lawyer filed a petition at the Supreme Court of Pakistan, seeking the dismissal of the capital punishment on the grounds that the prosecution’s case had defects, flaws, shortcomings and lacunas.
“The Prosecution miserably failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt against the Appellant,” the petition read. It added that in the absence of solid and concrete evidence, Jaffer was sentenced to death due to “excessive influence and pressure from the Media and NGOs.”
The petition argued that eight innocent people, including Jaffer’s parents, were prosecuted with “malafide intent.”
“The ‘Social Media Hype’ clearly resulted in miscarriage of justice as Appellant’s trial was conducted in clear violation of Article 10 A of the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973 which guarantees fair trial and proceedings regardless of the severity of allegations,” the petition said.
The petition also argued that there were “overwhelming” and “strong” indicators that Jaffer was suffering from mental and psychological issues.
“Despite clarification through this elaborate judgment coupled with the presence of strong and overwhelming strong indicators and evidence that the Petitioner had mental and psychological issues which could fall under the recognized mental ailments, no proper investigation was undertaken ruling out the ‘mental fitness’ of the Petitioner to stand Criminal trial,” it said.
Pakistan sees thousands of cases of violence against women every year, from rape and acid attacks to sexual assault, kidnappings and so-called honor killings. The country was ranked sixth most dangerous for women in a Thomson Reuters Foundation a survey of global experts in 2018.
