A Pakistan court Thursday sentenced to death the scion of one of the country’s wealthiest families for raping and beheading the daughter of a former diplomat. 

Pakistani-American Zahir Jaffer attacked Noor Mukadam at his Islamabad home in July 2021. According to investigators, Jaffer lured Mukadam to his home where he then tortured her for two days before murdering her. The torture included using a knuckle duster on the diplomats daughter and raping her repeatedly. 

Jaffer was arrested in his home on the day of the murder and indicted last October. However, Jaffer was not the only individual arrested in connection to the murder of Mukadam. Jaffer’s parents, Zakir Jaffer and Asmat Adamjee, as well as three members of their household staff, named as Iftikhar, Jan Muhammad and Jameel, were charged in the case as well. Additionally, six employees of Therapy Works, a counseling center from where Jaffer had received certification as a therapist and where he had been receiving treatment in the weeks leading up to the murder, were charged.

On Thursday, the judge acquitted all others besides Jaffer, Iftikhar, and Mohammad. Jaffer received a death sentence while Iftikhar and Mohammad received 10 years each for abetting in the crime. According to the short order handed down by Judge Muhammad Atta Rabbani: “[Zahir Jaffer] will be hanged by his neck till he is dead.”

Mukadam’s father, Shaukat Mukadam, hailed the court’s verdict and thanked the media for keeping the case alive. He added that he would consult his lawyers on how to legally pursue Jaffer’s parents and others acquitted of charges.

Hundreds of women are killed in Pakistan every year, with thousands more suffering brutal violence across the country. However, few cases receive sustained media attention, and only a small fraction of perpetrators are ever punished.