Sarah Inam’s murder case: Suspect Shahnawaz Amir sentenced to death

ISLAMABAD: A district and sessions court has sentenced accused Shahnawaz Amir to death in the Sarah Inam’s murder case.

Sessions Judge Nasir Javaid Rana delivered the verdict which was reserved last week on December 9. The court also imposed a fine of Rs1 million which will be paid to the victim’s family. The court acquitted Shahnawaz’s mother, Samina Shah, who was co-accused in the case.

Sarah, aged 37, was murdered by her husband Shahnawaz Amir, the son of journalist Ayaz Amir, in Chak Shahzad area on September 23, 2022. a day after arriving in the country from Dubai.

Shahnawaz was detained by the police from a farmhouse in Shahzad Town as a suspect in his wife’s murder and later confessed to killing her. The couple was married for just three months.

The next day, a trial court approved the arrest warrants of Ayaz Amir and the accused’s mother Sameena Shah, who were nominated as suspects by Sarah’s family. Amir was arrested while his former wife later acquired pre-arrest bail.

In the police report registered following the murder, an additional clause of Section 109 (punishment for abetment) of the Pakistan Penal Code was added at the request of Sarah’s uncles — Colonel (retd) Ikram and Zia-ur-Rahim — who have blamed Ayaz and his former wife for their daughter-in-law’s murder.

The petitioners maintained that Sameena was living at the farmhouse where Sarah was murdered. During a hearing on September 27, a court discharged Ayaz Amir from the case citing “no evidence” against him in Sarah’s murder.

In January, Dr Bushra Ashraf, who conducted Sarah’s post-mortem examination, told an Islamabad court that the victim had multiple fractures on her head.

In July, Shahnawaz’s lawyer completed the cross-examination of Sarah’s father and her uncle. Her father Inamur Rahim has ruled out any compromise, which he has also blamed for delays in the case’s conclusion.

In October, Investigation Officer (IO) Habibur Rehman testified that Shahnawaz had confessed to the crime. Subsequently, the judge had concluded recording statements of the IO and the prosecution witnesses in the murder case.

At the previous hearing, the counsel for Sara’s father had sought Shahnawaz’s death sentence and said all the evidence collected in the case proved the prime accused’s guilt.

On February 6, Shahnawaz was indicted in the case involving the possession of a Kalashnikov firearm that was obtained illegally and he pleaded not guilty to the charge. However, on November 27, the court granted the benefit of the doubt to Shahnawaz and acquitted him in the case on the prosecution’s failure to prove charges.