Shaukat Mukadam and Inamur Rahim—the fathers, respectively, of Noor Mukadam and Sarah Inam—on Sunday urged the Supreme Court to expedite the trials of their daughters’ murders to ensure timely justice for the victims.
Addressing a joint press conference in Islamabad, former ambassador Mukadam recalled that Sarah had been killed in a very painful manner and he and his wife had visited her parents because they knew the pain they were experiencing. “We approached the courts for justice but a lengthy trial followed,” he lamented, noting they had been told it was an “open and shut” case.
However, he regretted, despite Noor’s killer—Zahir Jaffer—being sentenced to death in February 2022, and then having his punishment upheld, the matter was still pending, as he was awaiting an appeal before the Supreme Court. “It is requested that the SC should hear this case as soon as possible,” he said, stressing this was necessary to convey a message for supremacy of law. If such cases lingered for years, he stressed, then the public lost confidence in the system.
Similarly, he said, Sarah’s case should also be expedited so justice could be ensured. “These girls wanted to do a lot in the society. 50 percent of Pakistan’s population is women, it is not like women sit at home. It is not possible that 50 percent of the country’s population will be left behind,” he said, breaking down as he recalled that Sarah had not even been safe in her husband’s home.
Sarah’s father Rahim, meanwhile, noted that a year had passed since his daughter was murdered. “My daughter was an innocent and simple girl who used to see everything at face value,” he said, regretting that the family had known nothing of the behavior of the accused, Sarah’s husband Shahnawaz.
“We did not know anything about this family except [erstwhile politician and journalist] Ayaz Amir (Shahnawaz’s father). Shahnawaz wanted to extort money from my daughter,” he alleged, while thanking police for their cooperation throughout the case. “The opposing [defense] counsel tried hard to prolong the case. Witnesses used to come to the court, but our opposing counsel did not come to the court. I was told that the judge cannot compel the lawyer to come to the court,” he said.
“We request new SC Chief Justice [Justice Qazi Faez Isa] to deal with our case. The state should become a party against the murderer. Instead of parents, the government should be a party,” he added.
Noor, 27, was found dead at the residence of prime suspect Zahir Jaffer in Islamabad on July 20, 2021. Subsequently a murder case was filed on behalf of her father and Jaffer was arrested with a murder weapon and bloodstained clothes. Earlier this year, the IHC upheld his death sentence, with his legal team proceeding to the Supreme Court for a final appeal against his punishment.
Inam, 37, was allegedly murdered by her husband Shahnawaz Amir in September 2022. He, along with his mother Sameena Shah, was indicted by a trial court in December. The case has yet to proceed beyond this stage.