The Supreme Court of Pakistan will next week hear the review appeal of Zahir Jaffer, convicted of murdering and beheading 27‑year-old Noor Mukadam in a case that shook the nation and sparked debate about violence against women.
A three-member bench led by Justice Hashim Kakar, with Justice Salahuddin and Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim, will take up the appeal on April 8.
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Noor, the daughter of a former diplomat, was found dead in Islamabad in July 2021.
Investigations revealed she had been tortured before being killed, prompting national outrage over gender-based violence and unequal treatment before the law.
Jaffer was sentenced to death by the trial court, a verdict upheld by the Islamabad High Court (IHC), which also converted his jail term for rape charges into a second death sentence. On May 20, 2025, the Supreme Court confirmed his death sentence.
Justice Kakar announced a brief judgment, upholding the trial court’s rulings on the rape charges and converting Jaffer’s 25-year sentence into life imprisonment.
The court also maintained the order for compensation to Noor’s family, while commuting the sentences of Jaffer’s gardener and watchman, Jan Mohammad and Iftikhar, noting they had served sufficient time in prison.
The case
Noor, 27, was found dead at a private residence in Sector F-7/4, Islamabad, in July 2021. Zahir Jaffer, the primary suspect, was taken into custody at the crime scene, and an FIR was filed by the victim’s father later the same day.
According to the original FIR, Noor’s father reported that she had been “beheaded after being killed with a sharp weapon” in a gruesome act that shocked the nation.
In February 2022, a district and sessions court sentenced Jaffer to death, alongside a 25-year prison term with hard labour and a fine of Rs200,000, concluding the trial that continued for over four months.
Besides the prime accused, two members of his domestic staff, Iftikhar and Jameel, were each handed 10-year prison sentences, while other co-accused — including Jaffer’s parents and several TherapyWorks employees — were acquitted.
In March 2023, the IHC upheld Jaffer’s death sentence and upgraded his 25-year sentence to an additional death penalty, on the appeals filed against the punishment awarded to the convicts.
An appeal challenging the IHC verdict was subsequently filed in the Supreme Court in April last year. In May 2025, the SC upheld the death sentence of Zahir for the murder of Noor.
