ISLAMABAD: Investigation Officer (IO) Habibur Rehman of the Canadian national Sarah Inam murder case on Wednesday testified before a trial court, informing the judge that the accused, Shahnawaz Amir, had confessed his crime.

Sarah was allegedly murdered by her husband Shahnawaz Amir, the son of Ayaz Amir, on September 22 last year.

The IO told the court that the murder case had been registered at Shahzad Town police station on September 23 and after the FIR was launched, the police reached the crime scene at Farm House No 46 at Chak Shahzad.

The body of the deceased was sent for postmortem in the Polyclinic Hospital and the dead body was kept in the mortuary because the victim’s parents were abroad.

The IO further stated the police had recovered a bloodstained dumbbell, which was used to kill the victim. After a thorough investigation from Shahnawaz Amir, the police recovered passports, mobile phones and Nikahnama with Sarah Inam.

The IO further articulated that the police had also nominated Ayaz Amir and the suspect’s mother Samina Shah as ‘accused’ in the FIR.

According to the medical report, Ms Sara died due to a head injury.

As per the police challan, Mr Shahnawaz had told the police that Ms Sarah had refused to send him money after which he had a heated telephonic conversation with his wife and he divorced her on the phone. After the divorce, Ms Sarah reached Islamabad from Abu Dhabi on September 22. He further stated that she argued with Shahnawaz in the bedroom and asked him to return the money that she had sent to him.

Upon this, the suspect first hit Sarah with a showpiece and injured her. When the victim made a noise, the accused picked up a dumbbell and hit her several times on the head.

The challan also stated that Samina Shah, the mother of Shahnawaz Amir, verified to the police that her son fought with his wife Sarah and killed her.

Shahnawaz had also confessed killing Sarah and hiding her body in a bathroom tub before it was recovered by the police on his identification.

Published in Dawn, September 28th, 2023