Geo News and The News have reported a timeline of events based on phone calls and text messages between Zahir Jaffer, Noor Mukadam, their parents and others involved. The timeline shows what happened in the three days that resulted in the murder of Noor Mukadam.
Disclaimer: some graphic information in the slides might be distressing and triggering for some readers.
Zahir Jaffer, alleged killer of Noor Mukadam, was taken to Lahore on Friday with heavy security to undergo a polygraph test at the Punjab forensic lab. It has been reported that experts at the lab asked him 20 questions and also conducted forensic analysis of the CCTV footage of the incident.
GEO News has reported that before the test was taken, Zahir kept trying to make excuses and also acted like he had fainted.
Zahir Jaffer’s remand was extended two days ago for another three days by a court in Islamabad. During the hearing, Zahir’s lawyer had said that if a forensic exam of the CCTV footage had to be done, it should be done by taking photos since the weapons and mobile phones had been recovered. There was no need to take Zahir to Lahore, he argued. The prosecution said the suspect has to be taken to Lahore. “If a photo was enough, we would not have asked for [the] remand,” he said.
Read more– ‘In grief’, Parents of Zahir Jaffer publish message for Noor
The public prosecutor also stated that even in the case of Usman Mirza, a man in Islamabad who allegedly assaulted and harassed a couple, they had taken all the suspects to Lahore.
Later, the court granted a three-day extension in the remand. Zahir will now be produced before the court on July 31.
A rift between the pro-Tareen faction within the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is creating issues for the ruling party.
On July 24, Lahore police lodged a first information report (FIR) against PTI’s MPA in Punjab, Nazir Chohan. He is a prominent member of the disgruntled Jahangir Khan Tareen (JKT) group. The FIR against Chohan was registered at the request of Adviser to the Prime Minister Imran Khan on Interior and Accountability Mirza Shahzad Akbar.
Bail was granted to Nazir Chohan on July 27 after police arrested him from Johar Town area in Lahore.
A statement issued by JKT spokesperson said that the group members wouldn’t be scared by such tactics.
“An individual present in Islamabad is using the institutions for personal interests but we will not let anyone achieve their ill-intentions,” said the spokesperson on JKT’s behalf.
Shahzad Akbar on Thursday said that Member of Punjab Assembly Nazir Chohan “falsely accused” him and then “continued to voice his claims openly”.
The PM’s aide asserted that Chohan ran a “fake campaign” against him, “putting his life, as well as those of his family at risk”.
“I lodged a complaint to the police and Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) as a common citizen,” said Akbar.
According to the police, Chohan had been initially arrested for his comments against Akbar during a private TV channel’s show and was to be shifted to the FIA’s cybercrime office. Whereas, the recent arrest was made over a separate complaint against Chohan, filed by Akbar for remarking on the latter’s religious beliefs.
The Sindh government has decided to impose lockdown in the province till August 8, starting from tomorrow. The decision was taken during a provincial coronavirus task force meeting chaired by Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah on Friday.
The decision to impose the lockdown has been taken to curb the recent surge of Covid-19 cases in the province. During the meeting of Provincial Corona Task Force, Sindh Health Secretary Dr Kazim Jato said that the positivity rate in Karachi during the last 24 hours was 23 per cent, 14.52 per cent in Hyderabad and 2.9 per cent in Sukkur.
The following decisions were taken in the meeting today:
However, businesses associated with the export sector will be allowed to operate.
As per the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), Pakistan has recorded 4,537 new cases of Covid-19 with the positivity rate of 7.79 per cent.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif has threatened to quit party leadership, reports Daily Jang.
Shehbaz has shown anger after his strategy for the Azad Kashmir elections was ignored, resulting in the party’s loss.
Leader of the Opposition in Punjab Assembly Hamza Shehbaz has reportedly stopped his father from stepping down.
“Hamza has also assured Shehbaz of taking up this matter with PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif.”
It is also being said that PMLN-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz will remain inactive for at least one year.
When contacted for a comment, senior PML-N leaders, chairperson Raja Zafarul Haq, secretary-general Ahsan Iqbal, spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb, and Ata Tarrar, did not attend phone calls.
In May, senior anchorperson Shahzeb Khanzada revealed that Shehbaz Sharif wants Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz to take a backseat from political activities and stay quiet. The focus should only be on the 2023 general elections. If Nawaz agrees to give full control to Shehbaz, then he will take all Opposition parties on board. He will then also hold a dialogue with the establishment. If Nawaz does not agree, Shehbaz will quit politics. He will not take part in any political activities after that.
Prime Minister Imran Khan has started interviewing some of the elected members of the Azad Jammu Kashmir Legislative Assembly for the slot of AJK prime minister, reports Dawn.
Barrister Sultan Mahmood, Khawaja Farooq, Sardar Tanveer Ilyas Khan, and Azhar Sadiq had separate meetings with PM Imran.
PM Khan is expected to announce the name of the new AJK premier before August 5.
Speaking with Dawn, Information and Broadcasting Minister Fawad Chaudhry said, “Yes, the prime minister has started interviews of candidates and now no one can call himself as the most favourite one.”
Chaudhry said four to five candidates for the office of AJK premier met PM Khan on Thursday and almost the same number of people would meet him on Friday.
“The prime minister is taking lengthy interviews of the candidates in which he is asking questions about the environment, tourism, economy, border issues, and their future plans,” he added.
Fawad said PM Khan would also finalise the names of the president and speaker and deputy speaker of the AJK Legislative Assembly.
A decision on whether a two-week lockdown will be imposed in Karachi or not will be taken today during the provincial task force on coronavirus meeting at the Cheif Minister (CM) House on Friday.
The Sindh health department has recommended clamping a two-week complete lockdown to contain the spread of the pandemic in Karachi as the positivity rate has gone beyond an alarming 30 per cent in the megacity.
Given the unsettling circumstances of the COVID-19 cases in Karachi, the task force has received a strong proposal to impose a complete lockdown in the metropolis.
Medical experts and the health department suggested halting inter-city and intra-city commute for two weeks.
It has been proposed that the educational institutes also remain closed for two weeks.
Cases like Noor Mukadam’s makes us wonder: what happened to the murderers and rapist of the major violence against women cases in Pakistan? We follow up on seven major cases in Pakistan.
In September 2020, a woman was gang-raped at gunpoint in Lahore’s Gujjarpura area in the presence of her children after her car ran out of fuel. She was waiting for help on the Lahore-Sialkot Motorway (M-11).
What happened to the rapists?
An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in March 2021 awarded a death sentence to prime accused and co-accused – Abid Malhi and Shafqat Ali – in the motorway gang-rape case. The court also awarded life imprisonment to both convicts under the charges of abduction and 14-years imprisonment to each accused under the charges of robbery. They are currently serving their sentences in prison.
Zainab, who was only six years old, was raped and killed in Kasur. Her body was found in a rubbish dump.
What happened to the convict?
Imran Ali, 24, was convicted over the death of Zainab was sentenced to death was hanged in October 2018.
A law student, Shah Hussain, stabbed his class fellow, Khadija Siddiqi, 23 times in Lahore in May 2016.
What happened to the convict?
Shah Hussain was sentenced to jail for five years but he was released from jail on July 17 2021 without completing his five-year jail term. He got a 1.5-year remission for “good character and blood donation”.
In 2007, a 13-year-old schoolgirl, Kainat Soomro, was kidnapped and gang-raped for four days in her native village of Mehar in Sindh. After she spoke out against her rapists, the village elders decided that she should be killed for bringing dishonour to her family.
What happened to the convict?
Her parents rejected the decision; her brother was subsequently killed and her sister was divorced. She lost the court case against her rapists. The court ruled that the accused were innocent, stating that there was no corroborative evidence available on record. All four men accused of Kainat’s rape were hence acquitted.
In January 2005, Dr Shazia Khalid, an employee of a state-owned natural gas firm, was raped in Sui (Balochistan). She was working at the company’s hospital for the past 18 months while living alone in heavily guarded government-provided accommodation.
What happened to the convict?
The rapist of Dr Shazia Khalid, Captain Hammad, was declared innocent by Former Army Chief and Dictator Pervez Musharraf and no inquiry report on the subject was made public.
Mukhtar Mai was gang-raped by order of her tribal council as punishment for her younger brother’s alleged relationship with a woman from another clan.
What happened to the convicts?
In August 2002, an anti-terrorism court sentenced six out of the 14 accused persons to death. Four of them were sentenced for rape, while the other two were convicted as being members of the village council. Eight others were released.
In 2005, the Lahore High Court acquitted five, and subsequently released, of the six convicts while one person’s death penalty was converted to life imprisonment. Mai challenged the decision in the Supreme Court, but her appeal was rejected in 2011.
November 1991: Farhana, known as a friend of Benazir Bhutto, was assaulted, raped, and tortured for 12 hours at gunpoint by five men.
What happened?
A court case was filed against Irfanullah Khan Marwat for being behind the rape. No evidence was found against Marwat. After Marwat’s acquittal, Farhana moved out of Pakistan.
Last year, the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) had demanded the expulsion of the French ambassador and a boycott of French products, asking the federal government to take “practical steps” otherwise it would be compelled to take “extreme action”.
After the government’s refusal, a rally was led by then-TLP chief Allama Khadim Hussain Rizvi, who urged the federal government to “declare jihad” against France.
Protests erupted across major cities in Pakistan.
On April 12 after the now-proscribed Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) chief Saad Hussain Rizvi was detained by security forces in Lahore, TLP again started protests and threatened the state to adhere to the parties demands.
After the violent rallies, TLP was placed in the list of proscribed organisations, under the 1st schedule of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJ &K) Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA), 2014.
TLP was involved in political activities and carrying out its election campaigns in AJK, for the polls which were to be held on July 25.
Under ATA, banned organisations are not allowed to engage in any political activities.
However, despite the ban, TLP also participated in the NA-249 by-elections in Karachi on April 28. TLP came third in the Karachi by-election.
Yesterday, in Sialkot, PP-38 constituency, a candidate from the TLP participated as a candidate for the election.
Talking to The Current, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry while commenting on the recent participation of the party in the by-elections said, “The government went about it in a legal way, which was to first announce that Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) has been banned.”
“It gave them (TLP) the right to appeal the government’s decision. Their appeal was reviewed by the federal cabinet, which dismissed their appeal,” added Fawad.
“Now when it comes to their political participation in the Sialkot elections: they were not allowed to take part in any electoral activity,” said the federal minister.
Fawad added, “The government has notified that the TLP has been proscribed and therefore cannot take part in any activities. Now, this notification will go to the Supreme Court (SC) and proceedings will take place in the apex court as per Pakistan’s Election Act.”
“TLP will not be able to take part in the elections if the SC decides to uphold their ban and consequently bans them under the Election Act, 2017,” stated the information minister.
Parents of alleged murderer, Zahir Jaffer, Asmat and Zakir Jaffer have published a public message of grief in a local newspaper and lending their support to Noor’s family. However, the notice does not mention their son, who is the alleged killer of Noor Mukadam.
“We are devastated and grief-stricken at the brutal murder of Noor Mukadam, daughter of H.E. and Begum Shaukat Ali Mukaddam,” reads the message.
“We strongly condemn this unimaginably heinous act. There are no words that could comfort Noor’s family and loved ones at this difficult time. As parents, we cannot begin to imagine the pain that her family is going through. We stand unreservedly by Noor’s family and are committed to ensuring that the law takes its natural course and that justice is served.
Earlier, a statement was issued by the Jaffer family, which condemned the act of Zahir Jaffer.
“Our shock and grief at this horrific act has led to a prolonged silence that we very much regret. However, we categorically condemn this atrocity and forever denounce Zahir and his actions,” read the statement. However, the statement reads, ‘Jaffer family’ and does not name Zahir’s parents in the statement.
Islamabad police, arrested Zahir Jaffer, Zaqir Jaffer and Asmat Adamjee for hiding evidence and abetting the murder. The court gave the police a two-day remand for the parents of Zahir Jaffer and they are to remain in police custody