Pakistan‘s legal system is rocked by the death
of Noor Mukadam, daughter of a Pakistani diplomat, in a domestic violence
incident in the capital Islamabad.

Mukadam, 27, died on July 20 after being
allegedly tortured and killed by Zahir Jaffer, the 30-year-old son of an
influential family and a dual Pakistan-US national, according to the police
report.

In the aftermath of her death, Pakistanis
demanded #JusticeforNoor on social media. A GoFundMe page raised almost
$50,000  for her family’s legal fees
before they requested it be closed, according to a message on the site.

The case would have been lost in numbers if
not for the influence of the victim’s father. But still, there are a lot of
legal hurdles before anything could come to a result.

Jaffer was arrested at the scene of the
alleged attack and later charged with premeditated murder. His lawyer, Ansar
Nawaz Mirza, said he hadn’t spoken to Jaffer since the alleged attack but said
his client “deserves a fair trial,” CNN reported.

Activists in Pakistan are pushing to renew
calls for the country’s Parliament to pass a law criminalizing domestic
violence. Even if passed, the law would only apply to the Islamabad Capital
Territory. According to activists,  the
passage of the law by the parliament would encourage other provinces to pass
similar legislation as the capital is controlled by the country’s ruling party.

The bill was held
up in the Senate, the upper house of Parliament. Now it has been sent for review to the all-male member
Council of Islamic Ideology (CII), the constitutional body that advises the
legislature on whether or not a certain law is Islamic.