Sarah Inam murder trial enters final phase

Amir’s lawyer cross-examines investigation officer

ISLAMABAD:

A district and sessions courts in the federal capital on Tuesday recorded the testimony of the prosecution witnesses and the investigation officer in the grisly murder of Pakistani Canadian Sarah Inam as the trial entered its final stages.

Inam, a 37-year-old economist who worked in Abu Dhabi, was murdered with dumbbells, according to police, by her husband Shahnawaz Amir at a suburban Islamabad home on September 23, 2022. Inam had married Amir of her own choice in July earlier this year.

Judge Muhammad Azam Khan will hold the next hearing tomorrow (Thursday) in which the primary accused, Shahnawaz, will provide responses to the prosecution’s questions. The statement would be recorded under Section 342 of the Code for Criminal Procedure (CrPC), which means it would not be under oath and the accused would not make himself liable to punishment by refusing to answer the questions or by giving false answers to them. “But the Court may draw such inference from such refusal or answers as it thinks just.”

During Tuesday’s hearing, the investigating officer of the case Habib Ullah, the victim’s father Inamur- Rahim, prosecutor Rana Hassan Abbas, defence lawyer Basharat Ullah and others appeared in the court. The primary accused, Shahnawaz, was also produced in the court. Columnist Ayaz Amir, the father of the main accused, was also present in the courtroom.

At the onset of the hearing, the defence lawyer started the cross-examination of the witness, investigating officer Habib Ullah.

The witness stated that Inamul Rahim arrived in Pakistan on September 26, 2022. On September 28, he met him for the first met him and recorded his statement under Section 161 of CrPC. The second statement was recorded on October 4, during which he referenced the USB and the voice message.

He acknowledged that when he was handed over the USB, police had the physical remand of the accused.

On October 6, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) received the audio sample of the accused and the USB provided by Rahim for voice-matching. The IO categorically rejected the assertion that the accused’s voice recording on the USB drive was copied.

He asserted that the cell phone recovered from the victim was broken. “It is incorrect that the mobile appeared to be broken because there were no voice messages on it,” he pointed out.

He said that it was accurate that the police did not get permission from the local magistrate to take the voice sample of the accused. He said that his report did not mention the multiple dumbbells at the murder scene. “It is incorrect that I included omissions or false testimony in the investigation,” he told the court during cross-examination.

He also denied allegations that he failed to record the accused’s statement in the case. He also denied the defence’s claim that Samina Shah, the primary accused’s mother, was not involved in the case.

It warrants mention here that Shah was also indicted in the case as she was present in the house at the time of the murder. She is the owner of the house where CCTV cameras stopped working just two days prior to the incident, the Inam’s family lawyer had said earlier in the case.

The IO also rejected the claim that he submitted an incorrect challan after being persuaded by the victim’s family.

Following the cross-examination, the prosecution provided the accused with questions and sought answers under Section 342. The court adjourned the hearing till October 12 after asking the accused to answer the questions at the next hearing.

 

 

Published in The Express Tribune, October 11^th, 2023.