Sara’s killer sentenced to death

Islamabad court fines convict Rs1 million; acquits mother Samina Shah

ISLAMABAD:

A district and sessions court in Islamabad Thursday handed down a death sentence to Shahnawaz Amir, son of renowned journalist, Ayaz Amir, for murdering his wife Sara Inam. Announcing the verdict which was reserved last week on December 9, Judge Nasir Javed Rana also imposed a fine of Rs1 million to be paid to the bereaved family.

The court, however, acquitted the co-accused in the case, Samina Shah – the mother of accused Shahnawaz Amir.

Sara, a Canadian national, was brutally murdered by her husband Shahnawaz on September 22, 2022. Her post-mortem examination revealed that the victim had succumbed to multiple skull fractures when she was assaulted by him. The court indicted the accused on December 15, 2022, after the formal trial began.

The court subsequently issued a 75-page detailed judgement penned down by Judge Nasir Javed Rana, stating that the prosecution remained successful in proving the case against Shahnawaz who deliberately killed the victim.

Shahnawaz had killed Sara by brutally hitting her head with a heavy dumbbell. The court declared that the accused did not deserve any mercy. “Accused Shahnawaz Amir is sentenced to death under Section 302-B of the Pakistan Penal Code. He should be hanged till death. The accused should pay a fine of Rs1 million to the heirs of the deceased,” the judgement read.

Regarding co-accused Samina Shah, the judgement said she was not nominated in the FIR. “Samina Shah was nominated in the case at a later stage for aiding and abetting the murder. However, no evidence was presented to substantiate the charges. At the time of the incident, Samina was present at the farmhouse, but there is no evidence of her involvement in the murder. Even during investigation and trial, no incriminating evidence was brought on record against her,” it said.

The court said Samina immediately called the police after the incident and reported Sara’s murder. “Co-accused Samina Shah is acquitted from the case by extending her the benefit of the doubt,” the verdict said.

Sara’s murder case remained under hearing for more than a year, with three different judges presiding over the case.

Read Shahnawaz Amir sentenced to death in Sara Inam murder case

‘Mother also party to murder’

Speaking to the media after the court’s verdict, Sara’s father said he was partially satisfied with the court verdict. “It is good that the prime accused has been convicted, but the mother should not have been acquitted,” he said.

“All of this happened before midnight. She was awake at the time. It is impossible that she did not hear her [Sara] scream. Had she intervened, we would have found her in an injured state, but she would have at least been alive,” the father maintained.

Tearing up while speaking to the media, the father added “Our daughter is always in front of our eyes. We go home, and her belongings are all over the place”.

He stressed that the sentence awarded to Shahnawaz must be implemented. “If that does not happen, everyone will forget about it, and we don’t want that to happen,” he added. The father again emphasised the mother being convicted too, adding that “she is not innocent… for any reason, she is not innocent”.

The murder

Shahnawaz was found guilty of murder in the police challan as he had confessed to the crime during the investigation.

According to the challan, Shahnawaz said during the investigation that when Sara did not send him money, he had a heated telephonic conversation with her and he divorced her over the phone.

The now-convicted murderer also said that after the divorce, Sara had reached Islamabad from Abu Dhabi on September 22. He added that she had started arguing with him in the bedroom on the night of the murder and demanded that Shahnawaz return the money she had sent to him.

According to the police challan, the suspect first hit Sara with a showpiece and injured her. When she started screaming, the accused picked up a dumbbell and hit her several times on the head.

During the investigation, the murderer further said that he hid his ex-wife's body in the bathtub before it was recovered by the police.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 15^th, 2023.