Sarah, a Canadian national, was allegedly murdered by Shahnawaz, her husband and son of renowned journalist Ayaz Amir, in Islamabad a year ago.
Sessions Judge Nasir Javaid Rana announced the verdict which was reserved last week on December 9. The court also imposed a penalty of Rs1 million in Sarah Inam’s murder case.
The Islamabad court acquitted Shahnawaz’s mother, Samina Shah, who was co-accused in the case.
The renowned journalist Ayaz Amir’s daughter-in-law had been murdered by her husband, Shahnawaz, in Islamabad’s Chak Shehzad suburb on September 22, 2022.
The 37-year-old was living at a farmhouse in the area where she was found dead. She was reportedly murdered with a dumbbell and her body was hidden in a bathtub in the bathroom.
Earlier in October, the prime suspect rejected all evidence submitted by the prosecution against him, terming it “baseless”.
His father was discharged from the case and his mother Sameena Shah was granted post-arrest bail in November last year. On December 5, both Shahnawaz and his mother were indicted in the case.
Speaking to the media outside the court, Sarah’s father said when his daughter was killed, there were only three people present in the house. Inamur Rahim said it was a lie Shahnawaz’s mother does not know anything.
He further asked for Shahnawaz’s mother to be punished. “We have no idea what their problem was with my daughter,”
Sarah Inam Case: Lawyer Prays Court for Death Penalty for Shahnawaz Amir
He said they found out later that Shahnawaz Amir had married twice, adding that he is a violent person, who looted his daughter for a lot of money.
Shahnawaz Amir’s only purpose was to gather money from Sarah, Inam claimed.
On Nov 27, Islamabad Judicial Magistrate Umar Shabbir acquitted Shahnawaz Amir in a case of illegally possessing Kalashnikov, on the benefit of the doubt, and expressed anger on the faulty investigation conducted by the police.
As per the written judgment, the court also ordered the release orders of the accused in the Kalashnikov recovery case. The court announced the verdict after the prosecution failed to prove the case against him, as there were many loopholes in the evidence presented in the case.
On Nov 16, the plaintiff’s lawyer Rao Abdul Rahim, while concluding his arguments in the case, had prayed to the court for the death penalty for the main accused