Pakistani-American sentenced to death in beheading of diplomat's daughter

Feb. 24 (UPI) -- A Pakistan court sentenced Zahir Jaffer to death Thursday for killing a diplomat's daughter in a beheading case that drew attention to lack of protection for domestic violence victims.

An Islamabad judge sentenced Jaffer, a 30-year-old dual Pakistan-U.S. national, to death for killing Noor Mukadam, a 27-year-old daughter of a diplomat, last July in his family home in Islamabad.

The high-profile case, dragging on for more than four months prior to the conviction for murder and sentencing, brought attention to domestic violence in a country that does not have a national law criminalizing it.

"This case is for all the daughters of Pakistan," the victim's father, former Pakistani ambassador Shaukat Ali Mukadam, told reporters at CNN. "The society and media came to our side, the entire nation and the world was on our side.

According to the victim's father, Jaffer had used a sharp instrument to kill his daughter and sever her head on July 20, 2021, GEO News reported.

Jaffer was arrested on the day of the killing with a murder weapon and bloodstained clothes at the scene, police reported, and he was later charged with premeditated murder, rape, abduction and confinement. Jaffer had pleaded not guilty to all of the charges.

Jan Muhammad and Muhammad Iftikhar, the gardener and security guard at Jaffer's house, who were indicted in the case last October, have been sentenced to 10 years in prison each.

Jaffer's mother Asmat Adamjee, his father, also named Zakir Jaffer, a cook, Jamil, and some employees at a counseling and psychotherapy center, Therapy Works, were also indicted in the case last October, but have now been acquitted, according to GEO News.