ISLAMABAD: An Islamabad district and sessions court sent Shahnawaz Amir, the prime suspect in the murder case of his wife Sarah Inam, into judicial custody for 14 days on Thursday.
Shahnawaz, who is also the son of senior journalist Ayaz Amir, was presented before civil judge Aamir Aziz after the completion of his physical remand. The police then requested for the prime suspect's judicial remand.
The police request was granted by the court and Shahnawaz was sent to judicial custody for 14 days.
At the last hearing, Shahnawaz's physical remand had been extended for three days after the investigating officer had told the court that the passport of the deceased is to be re-covered, saying it is major evidence as it can reveal her travel history.
The plaintiff's lawyer had told the court that Sarah Inam was killed in Shahnawaz's house and that if the victim's passport is not recovered within 14 days of the murder, the suspect could get away.
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.
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 (retd) Ikram and Zia-ur-Rahim — who have blamed Ayaz Amir and his former wife for their niece's murder.