An Islamabad district and sessions court on Thursday approved two-day physical remand of Sameena Shah, the mother of main suspect Shahnawaz Amir in the Sarah Inam murder case.

Yesterday, Shah was taken into custody from outside the district and sessions court after a judge dismissed her pre-arrest bail.

She was initially granted interim bail on September 26, three days after police arrested Shahnawaz for allegedly killing his Canadian national wife.

The murder allegedly took place at a farmhouse located in the capital’s Shahzad Town area, where Shahnawaz lived along with Sameena.

Police had issued arrest warrants for Shahnawaz’s parents, Sameena and senior journalist Ayaz Amir, a day after his arrest. While Ayaz has been discharged from the case, Sameena had been on bail until yesterday.

Shah was produced before senior Civil Judge Muhammad Amir Aziz as the court resumed the hearing into the case today.

The investigation officer informed the court that Shah was arrested a day ago after rejection of her pre-arrest bail plea. The judge asked if the prosecution had submitted a challan before the court.

He expressed his annoyance that the challan had not been submitted despite the passage of two weeks. The IO responded that the challan had been prepared and it would be submitted to the court later today.

The officer requested the court to grant five-day physical remand of Shah, saying “we have to retrieve a locket [for the purpose of investigation]”.

Shah’s lawyer Arsal Amjad Hashmi said his client had been fully cooperating with the investigation since the start of the case.

He urged the court to send Shah to jail on judicial remand.

After hearing arguments from both sides, the judge approved the police’s request and approved two-day physical remand of the suspect.

The case

Police have become a complainant in the case, with a first information report (FIR) registered for the murder on the complaint of Shahzad Town Station House Officer Nawazish Ali Khan at the Chak Shahzad police station, initially under Section 302 (punishment for murder) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).

Later, police added Section 109 (punishment for abetment if the act abetted is committed in consequence and where no express provision is made for its punishment) of the PPC to the FIR and initiated proceedings against Shahnawaz’s parents, Sameena and senior journalist Ayaz Amir.

The development came after Sarah’s uncle filed an application with police, alleging that Shahnawaz had murdered Sarah in connivance with his parents.

According to the FIR, Shahzad Town police station SHO Sub-Inspector Nawazish Ali Khan was present on Park Road near Chatha Bakhtawar when he got the information about the murder.

The FIR stated that when the police team reached the farmhouse where the murder had taken place, they were received by the mother of the main suspect who told them that her son had “murdered his wife during a scuffle”.

As per the FIR, she informed the police that her son was still present in the house. The police managed to enter the house and detained the suspect, it claimed, adding that the suspect’s hands were “soaked in blood” at the time of the arrest.

During the inquiry, the man identified himself as Shahnawaz and told the police that he had murdered his wife with a dumbbell and hid her body in a bathtub in the bathroom, it claimed.

Police recovered the dead body on his information, the FIR said, adding that a wound was found on the head of the deceased. The police team also recovered the murder weapon from the house which was “hidden under a bed”, it added.

Subsequently, the body was moved to the Poly Clinic for autopsy and the murder weapon and the shirt of the accused were sent for a forensic audit.