Last year, a 27-year old woman called Noor Mukadam was violently killed by a man she knew. Her death would shock her native Pakistan and news of her murder travelled around the world, including to Ireland.
Noor was Pakistani but in her bedroom in Islamabad, there are little leprechaun teddy bears – souvenirs of her childhood which she spent in Dublin. Her father Shaukat Mukadam was a Pakistani diplomat who was posted in Dublin. He was tasked with setting up an Embassy in Ireland. Noor went to school in Goatstown at Our Lady’s Grove school. She spent approximately seven years in Ireland and enjoyed sports like hockey and swimming. She also loved art and was always drawing, according to her friends who still remember her very fondly.
Up until last year, Noor was still in touch with her old friends from Ireland. By then she was living her life in the capital of Pakistan, Islamabad, where the family settled after their time in Ireland.
Noor mixed in a small circle of people in Islamabad. There are about five private schools where most of the upper class children go to, and through this circle Noor knew a man called Zahir Jaffer.
Zahir Jaffer is the son of the one of the wealthiest and most influential families in Pakistan. Outwardly, Zahir seemed successful – he was Chief Brand Strategist at his father’s business and a therapist at his mother’s mental health facility business.
Zahir was also well-known for throwing parties in his house, which was in a leafy upmarket sector of Islamabad. Zahir liked Noor and wanted to marry her – but she did not want to marry him.
Last summer on the 18th July Noor was at home with her parents, preparing for the Muslim celebration of Eid. She had had a busy day, helping her mother cook and prepare food. The next day, her parents left the house to get food for the feast and clothes from the tailor. Noor’s mother, Kausar phoned Noor that morning but there was no reply. Kausar assumed she must be asleep or in the shower. It was only when they returned that evening and found that Noor was not there that they realised that something was wrong.
What they didn’t know was that Noor had actually been at Zahir’s house since the previous evening and that she was desperately trying to escape his custody.
What happened next will haunt all that knew Noor for the rest of their lives. After two days being held at Zahir’s house, Noor was violently murdered by him.
Noor was a woman who was universally loved by those who knew her, for her kindness, positivity and fun, and the story of her death became huge news in Pakistan and around the world.
After her death those who knew her would join forces to fight for justice for Noor and, as Noor’s father Shaukat says, “for all daughters of Pakistan”
Narrated and produced by Nicoline Greer
Reporting by Hannah McCarthy and Hamza Azhar Salam
Sound by Peadar Carney
photo captions
(1 yr without Noor) Residents light candles in front of a picture of Noor Mukadam, on her first death anniversary in Islamabad on July 20, 2022. (Photo by AAMIR QURESHI/AFP via Getty Images)
(Let us Breathe photo) Women rights activists hold placards during a demonstration in Lahore on July 24, 2021. (Photo by ARIF ALI/AFP via Getty Images)
(ZahirJafferFeb22Getty Photo) Zahir Jaffer, arrives in a court before the case verdict in Islamabad on February 24, 2022. (Photo by FAROOQ NAEEM/AFP via Getty Images)
(ShaukatCourtGetty) Shuakat Mukadam, father of the victim Noor Mukadam, speaks to the members of the media as he leaves from a court after the case verdict in Islamabad on February 24, 2022. – (Photo by FAROOQ NAEEM/AFP via Getty Images)