ISLAMABAD: Pakistani officials, journalists, activists and members of the public have expressed shock and horror over Tuesday’s murder of Noor Mukadam, the daughter of Pakistan’s former ambassador to South Korea and Kazakhstan, Shaukat Mukadam. 

Mukadam, 27, was found murdered at a residence in the capital’s upscale F-7/4 sector on Tuesday. A man known to the victim and identified in a police report as Zahir Zakir Jaffer was arrested over his alleged involvement in the murder, with police saying he was the son of a “leading businessman.”

The murder, widely believed to have involved the beheading of the victim, has sparked fresh debate about the safety of women in Pakistan, with the hashtag #JusticeForNoor garnering millions of tweets.

“I cannot express strongly enough my absolute condemnation of the recent violence and brutality against women,” foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said on Twitter on Friday. “This has no place in our society, lives, religion or culture. We must work harder and do more for prevention & for justice.”

“For Saima, for Quratulain, for Noor,” he said, naming two other recent women murder victims.

Human rights minister Shireen Mazari called the murder “barbaric,” saying it was “yet another horrifying reminder that women have been & are brutalized & killed with impunity.”

“This must end. We are committed to ensuring no one is above the law & culprits having influence & power cannot simply ‘get away,’” Mazari said, adding that her ministry was in contact with the police and firmly stood with the Mukadam family.

Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri, the spokesperson for the ministry of foreign affairs, said he was “deeply saddened” by the murder of the daughter of his senior colleague and a former ambassador of Pakistan. 

“Heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family, and I hope the perpetrator of this heinous crime will be brought to justice,” he said. 

Opposition politician and senator Sherry Rehman said there “there must be #JusticeForNoor and all other girls who have been violated or wronged, let alone killed.”

Author Fatima Bhutto called Mukadam’s murder “a test for a system that too easily bends to power and influence.”

“But it must also be a test for us — imagine the number of men who inflict such brutality on women every day without being seen, without being noticed, because the victims are poor & unknown,” Bhutto said. 

Nida Kirmani, feminist sociologist and professor at LUMS, urged women and men to “hold each other close”

“Women, reach out to each other right now,” she posted. “Don’t isolate yourselves. Men, reach out to the women in your lives & let them know you support them. Hold each other close.”

Mawra Hocane, a top Pakistani actress and model, called the murder “absolutely barbaric.” 

“Extremely extremely heartbreaking & scary,” she wrote on Twitter. “Sending so much love & prayers to the family.”

“Heartbreaking few days. Beautiful lives lost to brutal, raging masculine aggression,” actor and director Adnan Malik said. “As a man I’d like to ask all my brothers to pause, take some time and introspect. What is the source of this misaligned, pent up rage?”

“We, the men, are the problem. And we have to help each other become the solution,” Malik said, conclusion a long thread on Twitter. 

Actor, writer and director Osman Khalid Butt wrote down the names of a number of recent victims, including Mukadam, and said:

“Remember these names. Keep asking for accountability, for justice. We must not let our outrage fade. These criminals must be convicted and made to pay for their crimes.”