- A three-member bench headed by Justice Hashim Kakar will preside.
- Noor was tortured, killed in July 2021, sparking nationwide outrage.
- The Islamabad High Court upheld the murderer’s death sentence, rape.
Pakistan’s Supreme Court will next week hear the appeal of Zahir Jaffer, who has been convicted of the murder and beheading of 27-year-old Noor Mukadam in a case that shook the nation and sparked debate about violence against women.
A three-member bench headed by Justice Hashim Kakar along with Justices Salahuddin and Ishtiaq Ibrahim will take up the appeal on April 8.
Noor, the daughter of a former diplomat, was found dead in Islamabad in July 2021.
Investigations revealed she had been tortured before she was killed, leading to national outrage over gender-based violence and unequal treatment before the law.
Jaffer was sentenced to death by the trial court, a sentence upheld by the Islamabad High Court, which also converted his prison sentence for rape into a second death sentence. On 20 May 2025, the Supreme Court upheld his death sentence.
Judge Kakar handed down a summary judgment that upheld the trial court’s rulings on the rape charges and commuted Jaffer’s 25-year sentence to life imprisonment.
The court also upheld the award of compensation to Noor’s family while modifying the sentences of Jaffer’s gardener and watchman, Jan Mohammad and Iftikhar, noting that they had served sufficient time in jail.
The case
Noor, 27, was found dead in a private residence in Sector F-7/4, Islamabad, in July 2021. Zahir Jaffer, the prime suspect, was arrested at the scene and an FIR was lodged by the victim’s father later that day.
According to the original FIR, Noor’s father reported that she had been “decapitated 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 along with 25 years of imprisonment with hard labor and a fine of Rs.200,000, ending the trial that continued for over four months.
In addition to the primary accused, two members of his domestic staff, Iftikhar and Jameel, were each given 10-year prison sentences, while other co-accused – including Jaffer’s parents and several TherapyWorks employees – were acquitted.
In March 2023, the Islamabad High Court upheld Jaffer’s death sentence and upgraded his 25-year sentence to an additional death sentence, due to the appeals filed against the sentence awarded to the convicts.
An appeal challenging the IHC judgment was subsequently filed in the Supreme Court in April last year. In May 2025, the SC upheld Zahir’s death sentence for Noor’s murder.
