A district and sessions court in Islamabad has charged 12 people, including prime accused Zaheer Zafar, of their alleged involvement in the murder of Noor Muqadam, whose body was found at a residence in Islamabad’s upscale Sector F-7/4 earlier this year on July 20. had met. . had met. .
Besides Zaheer, the court also found Zaheer’s parents, Zakir Jafar and Asmat Adamji, three of his domestic workers, Iftikhar, Jan Muhammad and Jameel, and six Therapy Works employees, identified as Tahir Zahoor, Amjad, Dilip Kumar, Abdul Haq, Wamiq. as was done. and framed charges against him. Samar Abbas.
The six accused, Therapy Works employees, who are presently out on bail, appeared before the court in their individual capacity. The rest of the accused were brought to the court from Adiala Jail.
After Additional Sessions Judge Ata Rabbani convicted the accused, all of them pleaded not guilty to the charges. On this, the court summoned the prosecution witnesses to start the hearing on October 20.
At the beginning of the hearing, Zakir, the father of the main accused, filed a plea in the court, stating that he was not going ahead with the indictment. His lawyer Rizwan Abbasi argued that his client was not given any evidence on the basis of which charges could be framed against Zakir.
He said the evidence presented before the court cannot be linked to Zakir.
For his part, Noor’s father Shaukat’s lawyer argued that the evidence could be examined during the trial, adding that at this stage, the court was only convicting the accused and not punishing them. . . He urged the court to dismiss Zakir’s request and convict the accused.
While the lawyers presented their arguments, Zaheer – the prime suspect – kept on interfering. Pointing to the staff of Therapy Works present during the hearing, he said that they had entered his house.
Zaheer further said that Noor was his friend and asked his parents’ lawyer not to interfere in the matter. “They are discussing my property. [Details about] My property should not be discussed,” he said, adding that his life was in danger.
He claimed that Noor “wanted to make a sacrifice”. [her life] and presented himself for sacrifice”.
During the hearing, Zaheer also apologized to Shaukat. “My life is in danger. Have mercy on me,” he said. He requested the court several times to let him call, without specifying who he wanted to call.
However, the court did not allow him to receive the call.
Another accused in the case, Iftikhar – one of Zaheer’s domestic workers – cried before the court saying that Noor had been visiting Zaheer’s residence for the past two years.
“I didn’t know it (Noor’s murder) would happen,” he said.
after the exchange. The court initially reserved its verdict on the charges of the accused, but later framed charges against them.
court last month set Charges were framed in the case on October 6, but it was postponed after the accused came filed Fresh petitions seeking certain documents along with copy of challan.
The court had then fixed October 14 for indictment in the case.
Meanwhile, Zaheer’s parents contact The Islamabad High Court (IHC) is seeking quashing of a sessions court’s order implicating 12 suspects in the October 14 murder case. No progress has been made so far on his plea in the IHC.
case background
Noor, 27, was murdered on July 20 at a residence in Islamabad’s expensive Sector F-7/4.
Later the same day an FIR was registered against Zaheer, who was arrested from the murder scene under section 302 (premeditated murder) of the Pakistan Penal Code on the complaint of the victim’s father, Shaukat Ali Muqadam.
Zaheer’s parents and domestic staff were also arrested on July 24 on charges of “hiding evidence and indulging in crime”. According to the police spokesperson, on the basis of Shaukat’s statement, he was made a part of the investigation.
Shaukat had said in his complaint that he had gone to Rawalpindi on July 19 to buy a goat for Eid-ul-Adha, while his wife had gone to get clothes from her tailor. When he returned home in the evening, the couple found their daughter Noor absent from their home in Islamabad.
They saw that his mobile number was switched off and started looking for him. According to the FIR, after some time, Noor called up her parents to inform that she was going to Lahore with some friends and would be back in a day or two.
The complainant said that he later received a call from the suspect, whose family members knew the former diplomat. The FIR states that the suspect had told Shaukat that Noor was not with him.
At around 10 pm on July 20, the victim’s father got a call from Kohsar police station that Noor had been murdered.
According to the FIR, the police later took the complainant to Zaheer’s house in Sector F-7/4, where it was found that her “daughter was brutally murdered and beheaded with a sharp weapon”.
Shaukat, who identified his daughter’s body, has sought maximum punishment under the law against Zaheer for allegedly killing his daughter.
Police later said that Zaheer confessed to killing Noor, while his DNA tests and fingerprints were also involved in the murder.
.