Noor Mukadam’s killed will not be spared: PM Imran

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan has termed the grisly murder of Noor Mukadam a “horrifying” incident, saying that he had been following the murder case from the first day and her killed would not be spared.

Answering a question by a woman about the murder of Noor Mukadam in Islamabad and what steps the government would take for women’s safety, the premier said the “tragedy” had occurred over the course of two days in front of the whole domestic staff of the alleged killer, Zahir Jaffer.

He denied the impression that the suspect would be saved because he belonged to a powerful family. “I want to tell you that no one is being saved in this. Even if he thinks he is a dual national and has American citizenship so he will get away, that is not the case,” he added,

The premier noted that the case had “shocked everyone”, saying everyone had been pained by it and it had had a big impact. “Noor’s murder is a big tragedy and I want to reassure the nation that no one, no matter how powerful they are, will escape full punishment,” he added.

He also spoke about the case of the Afghan ambassador’s daughter’s alleged kidnapping and said that he oversaw the case as if she was his own daughter. “I commend the police for the job they did in the kidnapping of the Afghan ambassador’s daughter’s case,” he added.  

Physical remand of suspect

On Saturday, a district and sessions court in Islamabad extended the physical remand of Zahir Zakir Jaffer — the primary suspect in Noor Mukadam’s murder case — by two more days.

During the proceedings, the state prosecutor asked the court for a three-day extension in Jaffer’s physical remand. The complainant’s counsel argued that “new details and characters” were found from the analysis of 40 hours of CCTV footage.

Jaffer’s counsel, however, opposed the extension request and questioned the need for further physical remand when a polygraph test (lie detector test) was already conducted.

The court accepted the extension request and remanded Jaffer for two more days to police custody for further investigation. The police was ordered to produce the suspect before the court on August 2 (Monday).

The case

Noor, daughter of former Pakistani diplomat Shaukat Mukadam, was found murdered at a residence in Islamabad’s upscale Sector F-7/4 on July 20.

A first information report (FIR) was registered later the same day against Jaffer, who was arrested from the site of the murder, under Section 302 (premeditated murder) of the Pakistan Penal Code on the complaint of the victim’s father.

Mukadam, who identified his daughter’s body, has sought the maximum punishment under the law against Zahir for allegedly murdering his daughter.