The court ordered that Zahir and others appear before the court, after which the accused, his gardener and watchman were brought in.
‘No personal enmity with anyone’
After Noor’s father recorded his statement, he was cross-examined by Zahir’s lawyers.
Mukadam, who is a former Pakistani diplomat, remarked that he has appeared in court for the first time in his life.
Noor’s father said that he has “no personal enmity with anyone”.
He said that Noor had not informed him that she was going to Lahore.
“Normally she would inform me before going anywhere, although sometimes she would reach the place and then inform me,” he told the court, adding that after she went missing, he contacted her friends, went to their houses and searched for her everywhere.
He said that the names of Noor’s friends were not added to the FIR.
Mukadam said that Noor called him on July 20 to inform him that she was going to Lahore. “I did not search for her again,” he said.
Noor’s father said that there is no evidence that the mobile phone found at the scene belongs to his daughter.
He stated that he was familiar with the Jaffer family but was unfamiliar with the others accused, and that an identity parade only of the Jaffers was conducted, and not of any other person in jail.
According to Mukadam, he named the gardener, Jan Mohammad, on August 8 after viewing CCTV footage. In my statement then, I had said that the gardener “did not open the gate and continued to keep it closed”.
Zahir’s lawyer gets COVID-19
On the other hand, the medical certificate of Zahir’s lawyer, Zulqarnain Sikandar, was presented in court, stating that the lawyer tested positive for coronavirus.
“Then how will he appear in court?” the judge asked.
“What if the witness flees?” he added.
A lawyer present for Zahir said that the cross-examination could take place from a distance of six feet.
The hearing was adjourned until January 17. Further cross-examination will continue at the next hearing.
Earlier, the sessions court had rejected a plea for the assessment of Zahir’s mental health by a medical board.
The murder
The prime accused in the murder of Noor Mukadam, Zahir, was formally charged for the crime by an Islamabad court in October 2021. Besides him, two of the family’s employees — Jamil and Jan Mohammad — were indicted, along with the Chief Executive Officer of Therapy Works, Tahir Zahoor, for a total of 12 people.
Noor, a 27-year-old woman, was murdered on July 20 within the limits of the Kohsar police station in Islamabad’s F-7 area.
A case was registered at the same police station on the complaint of Noor’s father, Shaukat Ali Mukadam.
The Islamabad police arrested suspect Zahir on the night of July 20 from his house where, according to Noor’s parents, he killed her with a sharp instrument and severed her head.