A Pakistan court sentenced the scion of a wealthy industrialist's family to death yesterday for raping and beheading his girlfriend - a murder that sparked an outcry over the brutalizing of women in the patriarchal nation.
Pakistani-American Zahir Jaffer, 30, attacked Noor Mukadam at his Islamabad home in July last year after she refused his marriage proposal. He then tortured her with a knuckleduster and used a "sharp-edged weapon" to behead her.
Mukadam, the 27-year-old daughter of a former ambassador, had made repeated attempts to escape the mansion but was blocked by two staff members.
"The main accused has been awarded the death sentence," Judge Atta Rabbani announced at Islamabad District Court.
Jaffer's parents, Zakir Jaffer and Asmat Adamjee, were found not guilty of attempting to cover up the crime.
The two staff members were sentenced to 10 years in prison for abetting murder.
"I'm happy justice has been served," said Shuakat Mukadam, Noor's father, while vowing to challenge the acquittal of Jaffer's parents.
The case prompted some relief for rights campaigners battling violence against women. According to the Asma Jahangir Legal Aid Cell, a group providing assistance to women, the conviction rate for cases of violence against females is lower than 3 percent.
And victims of sexual and domestic abuse are often too afraid to speak out.
The shocking nature of the murder, involving a couple from privileged elite, also led to pressure for the trial to conclude swiftly in a country where the justice system is notoriously sluggish.
Jaffer was thrown out of court several times during the trial for his behavior.
He was also frequently carried into proceedings by stretcher or wheelchair, and his lawyers argued he should be found not "mentally sound" - a maneuver prosecutors said was designed to suspend the trial.
At one hearing he claimed someone else had killed Mukadam during a "drug party" at his home.
When questioning Mukadam's father, a former ambassador to South Korea and Kazakhstan, Jaffer's lawyer implied she was killed by her own family for a relationship outside of marriage.
