Sara Inam’s husband awarded death sentence in her murder case

ISLAMABAD: The district and sessions court in Islamabad on Thursday sentenced Shahnawaz Amir to death with a fine of Rs1 million in the murder case of his wife Sara Inam. 

The court acquitted Samina Shah, the mother of the convict, for lack of evidence.

Judge Javed Nasir Rana on Saturday had reserved judgement after completion of arguments from both the prosecution and defense sides in the murder case of Sara Inam, who was killed allegedly by her husband in a house in Islamabad.

Speaking to media outside the court, Sara’s father Inamur Rahim expressed satisfaction over the sentencing but said the convict’s mother should also have been punished for her complicity in the murder.

Sara was a Canadian national and murdered by Shahnawaz, her husband and son of political commentator Ayaz Amir, at his Chak Shahzad house in Islamabad a year ago.

Shahnawaz was arrested in connection with the case a day after the murder.

Earlier, the judge recorded the statement of the accused in the court. In the statement, he flatly denied his involvement in the murder of his wife.

He said that in July 2022 Sara married him without taking consent of her parents. He said his parents and first wife were also not happy with his second marriage.

Shahnawaz said that on the day of her murder, Sara came to his house, his mother prepared dinner and the three took dinner together very happily. 

Then we went to sleep and at night Sara went to washroom and he fell asleep. At 7am the next day, he said, he went to bring breakfast from the market and came back at 9am.

He said when he came back Sara was not in her room and he looked for her and found her fallen unconscious in the tub of her bathroom. 

He claimed that Sara had died after falling in the bathroom. He said he was innocent and would submit all the evidence in the court in the next hearing of the case.