Verdict of Sara Inam murder case to be announced on Dec 14
A local court in Islamabad on Saturday reserved its verdict on the plea for clemency from the prime suspect, Shahnawaz Amir, in the Sara Inam murder case. The court is set to announce its decision on December 14, Express News reported.
During the hearing at the District and Sessions Court in Islamabad today, Judge Nasir Javed Rana considered the arguments presented by the defence lawyer, Nisar Asghar, who was representing the accused's mother, Samina Shah.
Asghar vehemently asserted that the accusations against his client were unfounded, highlighting the absence of evidence connecting Samina Shah to the heinous murder. The court will now deliberate on the presented arguments, with the final verdict expected in a few days.
The defence lawyer asserted that there was no proof of Samina Shah's involvement or assistance in Sara Inam's murder. He further argued that the prosecution failed to provide fingerprint reports obtained from the crime scene by the forensic team, a crucial aspect typically collected in such investigations.
Asghar urged the court to acquit Samina Shah due to the absence of conclusive evidence.
In contrast, Prosecutor Rana Hasan Abbas, in his final arguments, refuted the defence's claims. Abbas highlighted medical reports indicating that Sara Inam suffered multiple injuries, contradicting the defecse's assertion of death due to the cessation of heart activity.
Abbas emphasised that Sara Inam's demise resulted from multiple fractures and injuries, not just a cessation of heart activity.
The prosecutor also pointed out the DNA match between Shahnawaz Amir and Sara Inam, suggesting a relationship. Abbas dismissed the possibility of another person's involvement in the murder, stating that no third person's DNA matched the samples.
Judge Nasir Javed Rana called Inamur Rehman, the father of the deceased, to the rostrum during the proceedings. The father of the deceased recalled that he did not want his daughter to marry the accused. He said that he was a father of three children with Sara remained his favourite.
He questioned why his daughter's voice did not reach Shahnawaz Amir's mother, suggesting she would have cried out in distress.
At this point, he became overwhelmed with emotions and cried seeking swift justice in the case.
He further claimed that Shahnawaz Amir and Samina Shah intentionally delayed informing the police after the accused allegedly committed murder.
On behalf of the plaintiff, lawyer Rao Abdul Rehman presented images and evidence from the crime scene, asserting Samina Shah's presence and alleging that she willingly shared a meal with the prime accused.
The lawyer argued that all evidence was collected based on information provided by Shahnawaz's mother at the crime scene. He concluded by urging the court to announce death sentence to the prime accused.
Victim’s father breaks into tears during court hearing, seeks justice for his daughter
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The prime accused in the murder case of Sara Inam, Shahnawaz Amir, was awarded the death sentence by a sessions court in Islamabad and fined Rs1 million on Thursday.
The convict's mother, Samina Shah, who was a co-accused in the case, was however acquitted by the court.
The reserved verdict was announced by sessions court judge Nasir Javed Rana.
Sara, a Canadian national, was brutally murdered by her husband Shahnawaz on September 22, 2022. Her postmortem revealed that the victim had succumbed to multiple skull fractures when she was assaulted by him.
'Mother also party to murder'
Speaking to the media after the court’s verdict, Sara Inam’s father said he was partially satisfied with the court verdict. “It is good that the prime accused has been convicted, but the mother should not have been acquitted,” he said.
“All of this happened before 12 a.m. She was awake at the time. It is impossible that she did not hear her [Sara] scream. Had she intervened, we would have found her in an injured state, but she would have at least been alive,” the father maintained.
As the verdict comes after a year of the murder, the victim’s father while speaking about the family’s travails since after the murder said that “for a year the Almighty tested us. We have been so oblivious to the joys and sorrows of life. But I guess this is how our entire life is now going to be”.
Tearing up while speaking to the media, the father added that “our daughter is always in front of our eyes. We go home, and her belongings are all over the place”.
He stressed that the sentence awarded to Shahnawaz must be implemented. “If that does not happen, everyone will forget about it, and we don’t want that to happen,” he added.
The father again emphasized on the mother being convicted too, adding that “she is not innocent… for any reason, she is not innocent”.
Shahnawaz was found guilty of murder in the police challan as he had confessed to the crime during the investigation.
According to the challan, Shahnawaz said during the investigation that when Sara did not send him money, he had a heated telephonic conversation with her and he divorced her over the phone.
The now-convicted murderer also said that after the divorce, Sara had reached Islamabad from Abu Dhabi on September 22. He added that she had started arguing with him in the bedroom on the night of the murder and demanded that Shahnawaz return the money she had sent to him.
According to the police challan, the suspect first hit Sara with a showpiece and injured her. When she started screaming, the accused picked up a dumbbell and hit her several times on the head.
During the investigation, the murderer further said that he hid his ex-wife's body in the bathtub before it was recovered by the police.
Shahnawaz was arrested by the Islamabad Police on September 23, on charges of murdering his wife. She was murdered at their farmhouse in Islamabad's Chak Shehzad suburb, where the suspect lived along with his mother.
Samina had been imprisoned in Adiala jail after the Islamabad police arrested her on October 19 following Additional Sessions Judge Sheikh Sohail's dismissal of her bail request as she was also nominated in the murder case.
However, on November 2, 2022, she was granted bail by a lower court in Islamabad.
Source: Express Tribune
Convicted murderer to also pay Rs1 million in fine; mother Samina Shah acquitted on lack of evidence
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