To Feed a Murderer

The doctors have placed a nasogastric tube to feed Zahir Jaffar, the prime accused in Noor murder case

Zahir Jaffar, the prime accused in the infamous Noor Mukaddam murder case, is in the headlines once again after a newspaper reported that he is being fed through a nasogastric tube in jail following severe deterioration in his health condition.

Details gathered by Bol News confirmed that Zahir Jaffar is currently in a miserable state and is unable to swallow any food in a normal manner. The doctors, therefore, have now placed a nasogastric tube to feed him.

It is to be mention here that the Additional and Session judge awarded a death plenty to Zahir Jaffar and 10 years jail to his employees Iftikhar and Jan Mohammad while acquitting Zahir parents including Zakir Jaffar and Asmat Adamjee.

Sources informed that Zahir Jaffar was shifted to the jail hospital a while back and now the jail administration has shifted him to The High Security Prison and has deputed three prisoners to take care of him.

Zahir’s parents were informed about the medical condition of their son. The parents are allowed to visit their son once a month,” the sources said.

The Adyala Jail sources further informed that a team of psychologists have disclosed that after the brutal murder of Noor Mukaddam, the convicted murderer Zahir Jaffar has been suffering from the post-traumatic stress disorder and that has drastically affected his condition.

The jail administration has arranged medical specialists and nutritionists from various hospitals including Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), Benazir Bhutto Hospital (BBH) and Holy Family Hospital (HFH) to assess Zahir’s condition.

Meanwhile, Noor Mukaddam’s lawyer Advocate Shah Khawar, while talking to Bol News, said that though it has been learned that Zahir Jaffar has been suffering from a terrible medical condition, so far his parents haven’t approached the court for any kind of relief for him on medical grounds. “Zahir’s parents can approach the court for the medical treatment of their son if the facility is not available in the jail hospital,” he said.

Khawar said that since Zahir has been convicted, this is the discretion of the jail authorities and the ICT administration whether to continue treatment at the jail hospital or take him to a hospital outside the premises of the prison.

Earlier during trial, Zahir Jaffer’s lawyer had moved an application before the court to form a medical board as his client is not in a mentally sound condition.  Jaffer shouted in the courtroom several times and was subsequently thrown out of the court.

Later, he once came to the court in a wheelchair to show that he was unable to walk properly due to bad health. Later a team of doctors in jail declared him fit to face the trial.

During the trial Zahir also used the card of having the US nationality in order to avoid any further legal proceedings in Pakistan.

However, the US embassy in Islamabad in its official statement said, “In a foreign country, the 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.”

To recap, the 27-year-old Noor Mukaddam was murdered on July 20 within the limits of the Kohsar police station in Islamabad’s F-7 area. Zahir was arrested on July 20 from his house where, according to Noor’s parents, he killed their daughter with a sharp instrument and severed her head.

Zahir Jaffer, the prime accused of Noor Mukaddam’s murder, 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 also indicted.

Zahir has been sentenced to death under Section 302(b) (premeditated murder) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC). The death sentence, however, is subject to confirmation by the Islamabad High Court.