Shahnawaz Amir sent on 14-day judicial remand

A sessions court granted a 14-day judicial remand of Shahnawaz Amir, the prime accused in the Sara Inam murder case, on Thursday.

The case was heard in the District and Sessions Court Islamabad by Senior Civil Judge Amir Aziz.

The accused, son of senior journalist Ayaz Amir and Sara's husband, was presented before the court after the completion of his physical remand, which had earlier been extended by three days.

During today's hearing, the court accepted the police's request to send the accused on a 14-day judicial remand.

The murder

Shahnawaz Amir was arrested by the Islamabad Police on September 23, on charges of murdering his wife, Sara Inam.

She was allegedly murdered at their farmhouse in Islamabad's Chak Shehzad suburb, where the suspect lived along with his mother.

Sources told The Express Tribune that Sara, a Canadian citizen and the accused's third wife, had reached Pakistan from Dubai a day earlier.

Read Police get physical remand of senior journalist

According to sources, Sara and Shahnawaz had an altercation over a domestic issue that led to the accused hitting her on the head with an iron dumbbell.

After killing his wife the accused allegedly put her body in a bathtub. The police later arrested the accused and took him to Shahzad Town Police Station for further investigation.

The parents of the accused have also been nominated in the case.

The parents

Last week, the prime suspect's mother Samina Shah appeared in court with her counsel Arsal Amjad Hashmi, where her bail was extended till October 7.

The court inquired the applicant’s counsel whether the accused was unaware about the presence of the girl at the farmhouse. “Why did Samina Shah not inform the police directly? She has been residing in the farmhouse for the last 40 years and she also knew about the presence of a girl there,” the court remarked and observed that she spoke to her ex-husband Ayaz Amir yet he did not mention it.

The applicant’s counsel adopted the stance that the police were ‘timely’ informed and that she had “nothing to do with the incident” and was not an eye-witness to the crime.

During the hearing earlier this week, Sara's father's lawyer told the court that the victim's family did not want to involve any innocent person in the case and requested more time for the accused family's defense. The court adjourned further hearing of the case till October 7.

Earlier, the police had taken Shahnawaz's father Ayaz Amir into custody after his son allegedly killed his wife. The police request for remand extension was rejected and the court ordered his release.

Amir's counsel argued that the police had no evidence against him. He himself had informed the police about the incident and gave them the address of the house where the murder took place.