Noor Muqadam’s Murder, The full story

Noor Muqadam’s Murder, The full story (So far)

"Long read. Please do not read under any circumstances if you are sensitive. This is a brutal story and one that will upset anyone who reads it. I am writing this for the sake of posterity, because this murder hit too close to home. The victim and the murderer both share the same area and social circle of Islamabad as me and have left my family members and friends in a state of trauma. I will not disclose my information sources, so please don’t ask. I have, however, cross verified these facts from multiple places and have viewed some damning evidence myself. Yet, my information may suffer from cognitive and personal biases and therefore should be viewed as such. All prayers for the soul of the departed and may the murderer rot in hell. Image below is right after he was taken down.

Zahir Jaffer (the murderer) is the son of a Karachi based tycoon known for many construction projects, military procurements and close ties to the establishment. His company AJCL is well known not only for its massive projects but also the extravagant dinners it threw. Zahir had access to some of the best education and facilities that money could afford. However, he started exhibiting violent tendencies at a young age. Several years ago, he was put in a psychiatric ward to control his behavior and he started undergoing therapy at therapy works (a mental therapy clinic in Islamabad). Apart from mental problems he also had a serious drug abuse problem and was addicted to meth. Whilst undergoing therapy he opted to start a mental health certification course, which he successfully completed in 2015 and thereafter started counselling people on mental health. Apart from giving therapy to people privately, he also championed mental health by conducting mental health awareness sessions in famous schools like beaconhouse. He was asked to discontinue working at therapyworks by the clinic after his continued breakdowns due to drug abuse. However, he remained in touch with the senior members there and so did his parents to keep a check on his mental health.

Zahir started dating Noor around 2-3 years ago, who was also a beautiful, smart and educated girl. Their parents knew each other. She told her parents a few days ago that she was going to Lahore to attend a religious mass (Ijtama) but instead went over to meet Zahir. When her parents could not get in touch with her for a whole day, they started panicking and tried locating her. On Tuesday the 20th, Zahir became extremely violent with Noor who was staying with him in his house in F-7/4 for the last few days. She tried to run away by attempting to jump off the first floor terrace whilst screaming, but Zahir pulled her back by her hair and dragged her back in. The guards of his house saw this incident and instead of calling the police called Zahir’s parents. The parents too instead of calling the police, called Therapyworks and told them that it was their responsibility to handle this situation since Zahir was their patient. Therapyworks sent a van with five people to his house to address the issue. Those five people called on Zahir, who appeared on the terrace to talk. They made up fanciful stories to try to get him to come out. Outside the house were also five of Zahirs and Noors mutual friends who had been trying to talk to Zahir but he wasn’t listening to them.

By now, Zahir who figured out what was happening and asked them all to give him one hour to meet them and explain himself. During that time he shot and killed Noor and beheaded her with a knife. The five Therapyworks staff members in the meantime barged into the house and snuck up the stairs. They saw Zahir covered in blood kicking around Noors head on a bloody floor. Her naked brutally beaten body was on one side of the room. When Zahir spotted them spying on him, he tried shooting them but in a rush put in the bullets from the wrong side. One of the therapyworks employees saw the opportunity and attacked Zahir to try to take him down, but Zahir was wearing knuckle dusters and proceeded to beat up that employee with the intent to kill him. The employee suffered damage to several internal organs and he is currently in the PIMS hospital undergoing critical care and has had to undergo an open abdomen surgery. The other two called the police and then proceeded to save their friend by attacking Zahir and beating him down. They then tied him up with clothes they had found in the room. The police eventually arrived, saw the whole crime scene and apprehended the tied up criminal. It is said that during that time Zahir was fully aware of his actions and said that he did what he did because Noor deserved it and he claimed that she was cheating on him. He also admitted that Noor had come only for one day but he had held her hostage and had made her call her parents on gunpoint and made her tell them that she is in Lahore for an ijtama. He also threatened the police, the therapyworks employees and spoke about his connections with high ups. However, when he was taken to the police station Zahir started babbling in gibberish so as to suggest that he is too mentally impaired to even talk normally. Witnesses believe he started babbling and behaving like being mentally impaired on purpose. It was also discovered that he had already brought tickets to fly to the USA later. 

So far Zahir is in police custody and the courts have allowed for further investigation. I would want nothing more than the law to take its full force against such a person whose actions cannot be attributed to mental health, misogyny or even drugs. It appears that he was fully aware of his actions and made every attempt to cover up his crime. Furthermore criminal action should be taken against the idiotic guards and Zahirs parents. It would also be pertinent to state that this criminal would never had been caught if the therapyworks employees did not behave bravely and risked their lives to bring him to justice so kudos to them. Noor (which means light) leaving, has darkened our world and I can only pray that her soul is granted peace in the hereafter after the terrible experience her life gave her. 

In the end, this story may have hurt some people and I apologize if I have done so. If you are feeling sick, you are not alone. There is no lesson to be drawn here and that’s why this story is so horrifying"