A local court in Islamabad has sentenced Zahir Jaffer to death for the murder of Noor Mukadam after a trial of over four months.
As per verdict announced by District and Sessions Court Judge Atta Rabbani, co-accused Jan Muhammad and Muhammad Iftikhar, the gardener and security guard at Zahir’s house, have been sentenced to 10 years in prison each while Zahir’s mother Asmat Adamjee, father Zakir Jaffer and cook Jamil have been acquitted, along with all employees of Therapy Works.
The judgement of the historic trial is being hailed by all segments of the society as rape and cold-blooded murder of the lady in a posh area of the Federal Capital sparked nation-wide concern and reaction.
The speed with which the case has been tried is commendable as the trial has been completed in just four months, which is something unique in the rotten judicial system of the country.
The remarks offered by PML(N) leader Maryam Nawaz reflected aspirations of the people who said the wounds Noor Mukadam’s rape and murder inflicted on the collective conscience of humanity may never heal but it is reassuring that beasts in human disguise will realize that consequences can be grave.
The judgement is particularly appreciable in the backdrop of growing incidents of rape and murder of women and in many cases justice has not been done mainly because of lack of proper evidence and lacunae in the legal and judicial system.
The latest example is acquittal of brother of social media starlet Qandeel Baloch by Multan Bench of Lahore High Court despite his open confession that he strangled his sister in a case of honour killing.
In the case of Mukadam the judge has raised serious questions on the police investigations saying the procedural defect and irregularity might have been done by the Investigation Officer (IO) during investigation to give undue favour to the accused and the police authority at the most may take action in this regard.
This was a high profile case and the family of the victim got justice but there are countless cases where accused were acquitted which amounted to rubbing salt on the wounds of those wronged.
The system needs to be reformed to provide justice to all.
