ISLAMABAD: A district and sessions court hearing will record the statement of prime accused Shahnawaz Amir on Oct 12 in the murder case of his wife Sara Inam, a Canadian national who was murdered in cold blood by Amir at his farmhouse in Chak Shahzad in September last year.

Judge Azam Khan on Tuesday concluded recording statements of the investigation officer and prosecution witnesses in the murder case. And now, the court has summoned Amir, who reportedly killed his wife by bashing her head with a dumbbell.

Amir, son of politician and journalist Ayaz Amir, will record his testimony under Section 342 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC). Under this section, the judge can put a question to an accused person at any stage of the trial.

Prime accused to record statement tomorrow; cross-examination of IO, prosecution witnesses completed

“For the purpose of enabling the accused to explain any circumstances appearing in the evidence against him, the court may at any stage of any inquiry or trial without previously warning the accused, put such questions to him as the Court considers necessary, and shall, for the purpose aforesaid, question him generally on the case after the witness for the prosecution have been examined and before he is called on for his defence.”

On Tuesday, the defence counsel concluded the cross-examination of the investigation officer. The investigation officer testified that he did not commit any negligence nor fabricate any evidence.

In the statement, IO Habibur Rehman stated that the murder case was registered at Police Station Shahzad Town. He stated that following the registration of the FIR, the Police reached the crime scene, Farm House 46 in Chak Shahzad.

The body of the deceased Sara Inam was sent to the hospital for post-mortem. He stated that the dead body was kept in the mortuary because the victim’s parents were abroad.

He further stated that the police also recovered the blood-stained murder weapon — dumbbell — from the house as well as passports, nikahnama (marriage certificate), and mobile phones from the room of the accused.

He said the police also nominated Ayaz Amir, the suspect’s mother Samina Shah as accused in the FIR. According to the medical report, Sara Inam died due to a head injury.

The accused had told the police during the investigation that when Sara Inam did not send him money and had a heated telephonic conversation with him, said the challan, adding that Amir divorced her on the phone.

The accused told the police that after the divorce, Sara Inam had reached Islamabad from Abu Dhabi on September 22. He claimed Ms Inam started arguing with him in the bedroom that night and asked him to return the money she had sent to him.

The accused first hit Sara Inam with a showpiece and injured her. When Sara Inam started making noise, the accused picked up a dumbbell and hit her several times on the head, the challan filed by the police added.

Published in Dawn, October 11th, 2023