After years of legal back and forth and public outrage, the Supreme Court of Pakistan has upheld the death sentence of Zahir Jaffer, a man whose name has become synonymous with privilege, violence, and impunity, in the 2021 murder case of Noor Mukadam.
Noor Mukadam, a 27 year old daughter of a former Pakistani diplomat, was brutally beheaded in Islamabad in July 2021. The crime shook the country, not just because of its graphic nature, but because it forced the nation to reckon with questions of gender based violence, systemic class privilege, and delayed justice. The horrifying murder took place after the victim had rejected Jaffer’s marriage proposal.
On May 20, 2025, the apex court put an end to Jaffer’s final appeal, marking a significant moment for survivors of violence across Pakistan.
Zahir Jaffer, a US national and heir to one of Pakistan’s wealthiest business empires, was found guilty of Noor’s murder after overwhelming evidence, including CCTV footage and forensic reports.
According to The Express Tribune, Jaffer’s legal team had argued the footage could not be accepted due to technical flaws, claiming it was “played on a USB that couldn’t be opened.” But the court didn’t budge. As Justice Kakar stated plainly: “The footage was recorded through an automated system… and the forensic report confirmed it had not been tampered with.”
SMread: UK Rethinks Gaza Stance
The Fight for Justice
This verdict didn’t come overnight. It followed years of courtroom drama, adjournments, mental health pleas, and attempts to poke holes in a case that was already airtight. Jaffer’s defense leaned heavily on the absence of his fingerprints on the murder weapon and alleged gaps in the mental health evaluation process; tactics that, to many, felt like textbook delay strategies. But as Justice Najafi pointed out, “There is no need to argue over agreed facts.”
In the backdrop of this legal battle stood not just Noor’s grieving family but also the country’s women, activists, and those who had long feared that the justice system might again favor the powerful.
Why this case matters is because it wasn’t just about one woman’s death. It was about how easily women can be silenced, how casually their boundaries can be crossed, and how rarely their justice is delivered. Noor’s murder happened in a society where too often, relationships are romanticized until they turn into cages, and control is mistaken for care.
The who was clear. The what was horrifying. The how involved brutal force, manipulation, and power. But the why perhaps doesn’t lie only in Jaffer’s disturbed mind. It lies in the entitlement that told him she couldn’t leave. That her “no” didn’t matter. That someone like him could get away with it.
He didn’t.
And while this judgment cannot undo the pain of Noor’s family, it may just reaffirm the one thing that is owed to every victim: accountability.
