ISLAMABAD: A district and sessions court in Islamabad on Thursday sentenced the prime accused, Zahir Jaffer, to death in the high-profile Noor Mukadam murder case. Additional District and Sessions Judge Atta Rabbani announced the verdict. Following multiple twists and deferrals, the trial court had finally reached a decision in the high-profile case after the counsel representing Noor’s father completed his arguments at Tuesday’s hearing. The trial of the gruesome murder continued for four months and eight days. The murder 27-year-old Noor was found dead at the residence of the prime suspect, Zahir Jaffer, in Islamabad’s upscale Sector F-7/4 on July 20, 2021. After a first information report (FIR) was registered under Section 302 (premeditated murder) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) on behalf of Noor’s father, Zahir was arrested with a murder weapon and bloodstained clothes from the crime scene on the day of the killing. According to Noor’s father, former Pakistani ambassador Shaukat Ali Mukadam, Zahir killed Noor with a sharp instrument and severed her head. As the police went deeper into investigations, Zahir’s parents were found involved in concealing evidence and assisting their son in the crime. Both Zahir’s mother and father were arrested on July 25, 2021. The trial The trial officially kicked off on October 20, 2021, when Zahir, was formally charged for the crime by an Islamabad court. Besides him, two of the family’s employees — Jamil and Jan Mohammad — were also indicted, along with Zahoor. The trial comprised of 25 hearings in total, while Zahir tried to prove himself mentally ill throughout the trial. However, the trial court declared him physically and mentally fit. Zahir Jaffer pleads not guilty The case took a new turn on February 10, when Zahir pleaded not guilty to the crime. On behalf of the main accused, his lawyer submitted his client’s defence in the case in a questionnaire given by the court. Zahir told the court that he was in a “relationship” with the victim for a long time and both the families also knew each other. However, he clarified that he was “not in touch with Noor for six months.” “On July 18, she voluntarily came to my house with a huge quantity of drugs. Noor told me to host a drug party and I refused,” said Zahir. The accused then claimed before the court that on July 20 the victim invited her friends to the said party. He added he was alone at home at the time, as his parents and other family members were in Karachi for Eid celebrations. “A few hours later when I woke up, I found myself tied in my lounge,” said Jaffer, adding that after a few minutes, uniformed police and people in civil clothes “rescued” him. “When I was rescued, I got to know that Noor was murdered by someone attending the drug party or someone else murdered her,” said Jaffer. He also claimed that the victim’s father is an “influential” person and got him involved in the case by pressurizing the police.