ISLAMABAD: A defense attorney representing the key suspect in the grisly murder of 27-year-old Noor Mukadam accused the police on Wednesday of not investigating the case properly, saying they did not involve the victim's brother in the probe even as it could be a case of honor killing.

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.

Zahir Jaffer, the prime suspect in the case, was arrested from the crime scene, his residence, on the day of the murder and has since been in custody.

"The police did not investigate [Mukadam's] only brother," Jaffer's counsel, Sikandar Zulqarnain, was quoted by Urdu News. "This can also be the case of honor [killing]."

The defense attorney, who previously argued that the victim belonged to an influential family that was falsely implicating his client in the case with the help of police, maintained the investigation team did not interrogate everyone who was present the crime scene on the day of the murder.

He added a police official told the court that "some people" were present at the upper portion of Jaffer's residence when he arrived at the scene, without saying anything about who they were.

Advocate Zulqarnain also accused Mukadam's parents of "negligence," saying it was difficult to understand why they did not inform the police that their daughter was missing even after her disappearance for an entire day.

He implied that the police had selectively gathered forensic evidence in the case and taken a great deal of time to perform the autopsy on the victim's body.

Meanwhile, the lawyer of Jaffer's three household staff, Iftikhar, Jan Muhammad and Jameel, who are also charged in the incident argued that the case was full of contradictions.

"Some of these individuals were implicated in the case after four days and some after 18 days," he noted.

The defense attorneys maintained the case built by prosecution was based on circumstantial evidence, making it difficult to reconcile the statements made by the investigation team and the plaintiff.

The court will now resume its hearing of the case on Monday, February 21.