A district and sessions court in Islamabad on Thursday remanded prime suspect Shahnawaz Amir into judicial custody for 14 days in the Sarah Inam murder case.
Senior journalist Ayaz Amir’s son Shahnawaz allegedly killed his wife Sarah at home after a row over a family issue on September 23.
Shahnawaz – who was detained by the police from a farmhouse in Islamabad’s Chak Shahzad area for being a suspect in his wife’s murder – confessed to committing the crime and said that he “thought” his spouse was having an affair with someone else. The couple was married for just three months. The next day, a trial court approved the arrest warrants of Ayaz Amir and his former wife Sameena Shah, as the two were nominated as suspects by Sarah’s family. However, the court granted Sameena an interim pre-arrest and directed her to join the probe, while Ayaz Amir was discharged from the case on the basis of “no evidence” against him in the murder.
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 (r) Ikram and Zia-ur-Rahim – who have blamed Ayaz Amir and his former wife for their niece’s murder.
Today, the police presented Shahnawaz before civil judge Aamir Aziz’s court after the completion of his physical remand, and requested his judicial remand.
The court accepted the police’s request and sent Shahnawaz into judicial custody for 14 days.
The court had extended the physical remand of Shahnawaz for three days on the last hearing on Monday on a police request to recover Sarah Inam’s passport. The investigation officer had informed the court that the passport is “major evidence” as it would show Sarah’s travel history.
After hearing arguments from both sides, the court extended the physical remand of the suspect.
