Wealthy Pakistani youth gets death sentence in rape and murder case

Islamabad: The death sentence is the most exemplifying verdict for the convict, said Shaukat Ali Mukadam, the former Pakistani diplomat, over an Islamabad court's verdict against Zahir Jaffer, the son of a Pakistani tycoon, for murdering his daughter Noor Mukadam.

The 27-year-old Mukadam was held captive, and tortured before she was beheaded at the hands of Jaffer with the help of his two household employees in July last year. Jaffer is a member of a well-known industrialist family.

The refusal of his marriage proposal led to Mukadam's murder. While sentencing Jaffer to be hanged for the crime, Judge Ata Rabbani has pronounced ten years imprisonment for his guard and gardener for abetting the murder.

The trial in the murder case began in October after a country wide protest. Jaffer's parents, who were caught on the charge of covering up the killing, were acquitted by the court. The court heard they had blocked the young woman's attempts to leave the luxury mansion.

Right activists held a nationwide protest against the efforts to save the wealthy murder. It was because of the lower convictions in women assault cases in the country.

According to AGHS Legal Aid Cell, a rights group providing free legal representation for marginalised groups in Pakistan, the conviction rate for cases of violence against women is less than 3%.

Right groups hailed the verdict and called for the higher courts to maintain the decision in the face of any appeal.