The Murder Of Noor Mukadam, And Social Media's Renewed Focus On Violence Against Women In Pakistan

Death may be swift to some people. Ro some others, it is not.

Noor Mukadam, a young woman from Pakistan, was born on October 23, 1993. As the daughter of Shaukat Mukadam, a government official who previously served as Pakistan's ambassador to South Korea and Kazakhstan, Noor spent much of her childhood abroad, living in a privileged and well-connected environment due to her father's diplomatic career.

As a result of this, Noor experienced a good education and exposure to various cultures, languages, and experiences.

Her upbringing was characterized by a blend of traditional and modern values, reflective of her family's social and cultural standing.

She was living in a well-respected society, until someone abruptly ended what the future had for her, by murdering her.

Her death happened during the height of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.

It all began when a man called Zahir Zakir Jaffer purchased a one-way planet ticket to New York, U.S., on July 7th, with a departure scheduled on the early morning of July 19th. He was supposed to leave his home in the evening of July 18th, using a taxi he booked to transport him to the Islamabad International Airport.

But before that, he called Noor, who was at her home in Islamabad's Naval Anchorage neighborhood.

After receiving Jaffer's call, Noor left her residence to head to Jaffer's residence in Sector F-7/4. She arrived at the location around 10 PM.

Instead of directly leaving, Jaffer took a taxi around 2 AM on July 19th, and left his residence with Noor.

But less than hour later, the two then returned, after Jaffer said that they were too "late" and would "not be able to reach on time".

This was the last time Noor was seen alive.

Seeing that her daughter didn't return home the next day, Noor's father sent her text messages asking her where she was. Receiving no reply, her mother texted her as well, and also received no reply.

Calls from friends also went unanswered.

Then suddenly, about a day since she left her house, her mother received a voice recording from Noor, which details were not made public.

But it was immediately after this, that Jaffer called Noor's mother from his own phone, to tell her that "Noor is not here at my house".

According to Noor's friends, Noor had previously been in a relationship with Jaffer, without her parents’ knowledge.

The police was called after Noor's parents realized something was amiss.

Jaffer, a 27-year-old Pakistan-U.S. national and the son of a wealthy businessman, had the police after him, and he was arrested.

And at the site, Noor was also found.

She was there, without her head.

Jaffer was then taken to the police station, alongside his two household staffs.

In the investigation that followed, it's realized that Noor had been tortured during the span of two days when she was held hostage.

Noor tried escaping for a few times, but failed as Jaffer's household staffs prevented her from leaving the premises.

Autopsy on her body found that Noor was raped, beaten by a knuckleduster, and stabbed, before she was decapitated with a knife.

At first, Jaffer, pleaded not guilty to all charges, but later, he confessed to the police that he intended to kill Noor if she refused to accept his marriage proposal.

In other words, the murder was premeditated.

Pakistan has a poor record when it comes to protecting women and girls.

The country doesn't have a nationwide law criminalizing domestic violence, leaving many women and girls vulnerable to assault. As a result of this, in Pakistan’s patriarchal society, violence that occurs within marriage often goes unreported, because it is considered a cultural norm

But Noor's death sent shockwaves through the country, more than pretty much all cases that came before it.

Her death shows that even the daughter of a high ranking government official is not safe after saying "no."

Foreign news agencies said that Noor Mukadam's name skyrocketed through Pakistani news, and that her death became trending topic, which resulted in social media's renewed focus on the country's struggling attempt to curb violence against women.

Prime Minister Imran Khan directed the Islamabad Police to "make no concessions" while probing the murder and emphasized the delivery of justice.

Celebrities from the film and music industries tweeted under the hashtag #JusticeForNoor to convey their sentiments.

From Pakistanis in Pakistan, to Pakistanis living abroad, their communities also expressed their grief.

Vigils for Noor have been seen not only in Islamabad, but from Dublin to New York, and other places where COVID-19 restrictions allow people to gather.

Due to the high publicity, and the disruption it caused, a lot of people began to think that Noor's death would probably never reached mainstream media, or make headline news in other countries, had she not been the daughter of a diplomat or belonged to a respected family.

But pair Noor's family background, with the brutal nature of the crime, and also Jaffer's family background, Noor’s murder has renewed a nationwide calls for changes in the Pakistani legislative system, so it can better protect women from violence.

The case and its gruesome nature sparked strong condemnation and public outrage in Pakistan, and numerous calls to bring the perpetrator to justice.

Jaffer was sentenced to death for the murder of Noor Mukadam by Islamabad session court in February 2022, while Jaffer's household staffs: watchman Muhammad Iftikhar and gardener Muhammad Jan, were given ten years of imprisonment.

Clarifying its position on the issue, the U.S. embassy in Islamabad had something to say, concerning Jaffer's status as an American citizen.

"In a foreign country, US citizens are subject to that country's laws. When Americans are arrested abroad, the Embassy can check on their well-being and provide a list of lawyers, but cannot provide legal advice, participate in court proceedings or effect their release," the embassy tweeted.

Later, Jaffer's parents, Zakir Jaffer and his wife Asmat Adamjee, were also arrested on suspicion of complicity in the crime.

Mukadam’s father, Shaukat Mukadam, welcomed the verdict.

"This case is for all the daughters of Pakistan,” he told reporters. “The society and media came to our side, the entire nation and the world was on our side."

The killing also comes as a storm brews over the safety of foreign diplomatic missions and their personnel in Pakistan.

For example, previously, Silsila Alikhil, the 26-year-old daughter of Afghanistan’s ambassador to Pakistan Najibullah Alikhil, was briefly abducted from Islamabad and tortured, the Afghanistan Foreign office said.

This particular incident triggered a major diplomatic tension between the two neighboring nations, which are coping with the resurgence of the Taliban as the U.S. and NATO reach the final phase of their troop pull-out operation.

Pakistan has stoutly denied the allegations made by Afghanistan, saying the police in Islamabad have found no supporting evidence of the alleged abduction.