Verdict in murder case of Sarah Inam reserved, to be announced on Dec 14

Islamabad : The District and Sessions Judge, Islamabad Nasir Javed Rana has reserved its verdict in the murder case of Sarah Inam, daughter-in-law of renowned journalist Ayaz Amir. The decision will be announced on December 14, 2023.

Sara was allegedly murdered a year ago in Islamabad by Shahnawaz her husband and son of Ayaz Amir, a renowned journalist. During the hearing on Saturday, Shahnawaz's mother Samina Shah said that Sarah was a "very sweet child who loved her a lot".

Samina told the court that she was in her room when the incident took place and couldn't hear anything due to the noise from the air conditioner. "Shahnawaz called me and when I went to him, he was not in sense," she said, adding that she called her husband, Ayaz Amir, and told him about the incident.

Samina said that Ayaz told her to lock their son in the room however she replied that Shahnawaz was not in the right mind. She said when her husband asked about Sarah's condition, she told him that the girl had died.

"If I wanted, I could have helped Shahnawaz escape," said the accused mother during the hearing. Samina's lawyer Nisar Asghar told the court that the prosecution did not have Sarah Inam's radiologist report.

The prosecution did not even call Samina Shah as a witness. They could've interrogated Samina Shah but instead made her an accused in the case, said Asghar. Why did the prosecution not produce the DVR on the day of the incident, questioned the lawyer. Not taking fingerprints, mobile data, DVR raises a question on the prosecution.

Last month, Shahnawaz, the prime suspect was acquitted by a court in the case pertaining to the possession of an illegal weapon, a kalashnikov, on the basis of the benefit of the doubt. The court's decision stated that the prosecution miserably failed to prove the charge against Shahnawaz. It also rejected the evidence provided by the prosecution, stating that it was doubtful.

Meanwhile, the prime suspect last month rejected all evidence submitted by the prosecution against him, terming it "baseless". During his appearance at the district and sessions court, the accused told the court that on the night of the incident, his mother prepared dinner for them. We all ate together, chatted a lot and then went to sleep. Sarah went to the bathroom in the middle of the night. I was asleep at that time. I woke up at 7 a.m. and went to F-8 Market to get breakfast, he said. He added "When I came back at 9 a.m, Sarah was not in the room and upon searching, he found her lying in a bathtub. When I saw Sarah, she was already dead."

The suspect earlier confessed to committing the crime and said that he "thought" his spouse was having an affair with someone else and killed his wife in an act of self-defence. Shahnawaz had earlier confessed to committing the crime and said that he "thought" his spouse was having an affair with someone else and killed his wife in an act of self-defence.

Sarah Inam, 37, was a Canadian national and a successful economist who worked with Deloitte and USAID at different points in her career. She was married to Shahnawaz for just three months before her murder.

She had a master's degree from the University of Waterloo and was currently employed in the government sector in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), as per friends and family. Sarah is survived by her father, mother and two elder brothers.