Islamabad: A medical board comprising a psychiatrist and a neurologist from the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) will examine Zahir Zakir Jaffer—the convicted murderer of Noor Mukadam—inside Rawalpindi’s Central Jail today, raising fresh fears that the move may be an attempt to revisit long-dismissed claims of mental instability and stall justice yet again.
The reassessment, scheduled three years after Jaffer gruesomely murdered Noor Mukadam in his Islamabad home, has reignited outrage and suspicion across the country.
Women’s rights groups and legal observers have called the move a “last-ditch tactic” to manipulate the system and seek relief for one of the most notorious killers in Pakistan’s recent history.
According to an official notification issued on July 11, 2025, the psychiatric board includes Dr. Shafqat Nawaz from the Psychiatry Department and Dr. Amir Naveed from the Neurology Department of PIMS.
The board was constituted upon the request of the Superintendent of Central Jail, Rawalpindi, to evaluate the mental state of the condemned prisoner.
Zahir Jaffer, a dual national and heir to a powerful business empire, was sentenced to death in February 2022 for the premeditated and brutal murder of 27-year-old Noor Mukadam, the daughter of former diplomat Shaukat Mukadam.
Noor was held hostage, tortured, and beheaded on July 20, 2021, at Jaffer’s residence in Islamabad’s upscale F-7 sector. The case shocked the nation, ignited mass protests, and came to symbolize the fight against gender-based violence and elite impunity in Pakistan.
Throughout the trial, Jaffer repeatedly exhibited erratic courtroom behavior—shouting at judges, staging outbursts, and refusing to cooperate—while his legal team attempted to use mental illness as a defense. The court, however, dismissed all such claims based on overwhelming forensic, video, and eyewitness evidence.
The timing of this latest medical examination has led many to question whether the system is once again being bent in favor of a powerful convict. “Every time a rich man is sentenced, a psychiatric report appears,” a women’s rights advocate said, reflecting growing frustration with delays and legal loopholes in high-profile cases.
Legal experts caution that psychiatric evaluations are sometimes used to file mercy petitions or appeal for sentence reductions, even after convictions have been upheld by courts.
Noor’s murder had triggered an unprecedented public outcry in 2021, with citizens demanding swift justice and an end to gender violence. While several domestic staff members were convicted for criminal negligence, Zahir’s parents were controversially acquitted in a decision that drew widespread criticism.
Now, with the psychiatric board set to examine Jaffer behind jail walls, many believe this is a calculated move to project the killer as mentally unfit—despite the court having already rejected that defense.
Rights groups and Noor’s supporters have demanded complete transparency from PIMS and jail authorities, warning that any attempt to soften the punishment through medical technicalities would be a betrayal of the justice Noor died fighting for.
As the medical board convenes, all eyes once again turn to a case that has come to define the nation’s struggle for justice, equality, and accountability—fearful that the path to justice may once more be derailed in favor of power and privilege.
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