An Islamabad district and sessions court on Thursday said the statement of Shahnawaz Amir, the prime accused in the murder case of Sara Inam, would be recorded on October 18 due to the defence counsel skipping today’s hearing.

Sara, a Canadian national, was allegedly murdered by Shahnawaz, her husband and son of renowned journalist Ayaz Amir, in Islamabad a year ago.

Shahnawaz was arrested on September 23 last year over the alleged murder at a farmhouse in Islamabad’s Shahzad Town, only a day after her arrival in the country from Dubai where she had been working.

He was initially remanded to police custody a day after his arrest and the period of his physical remand was extended several times.

His father was discharged from the case and his mother Sameena Shah, nominated as co-accused in the case, was granted post-arrest bail in November last year.

On December 5, both Shahnawaz and his mother were indicted in the case.

In January, Dr Bushra Ashraf who conducted Sara’s post-mortem, told an Islamabad court that the victim had multiple fractures on her head.

In July, Shahnawaz’s lawyer completed the cross-examination of Sara’s father, Inamur Rahim, and her uncle Ikramur Rahim.

Sara’s father, Inamur Rahim has ruled out compromise with the defence, which he has also blamed for delays in the case’s conclusion.

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Last month, Investigation Officer (IO) Habibur Rehman testified before a trial court, informing the judge that Shahnawaz had confessed his crime.

He had further said that the police had recovered a bloodstained dumbbell, which was used to kill the victim. According to the medical report, Sara died due to a head injury.

A day ago, Sessions Judge Azam Khan had concluded recording statements of the IO and the prosecution witnesses in the murder case.

The defence counsel had concluded the cross-examination of the IO, who testified that he did not commit any negligence nor fabricate any evidence. Therefore, Shahnawaz was due to record his statement today.

The hearing

Today, Judge Khan presided over the hearing, during which prosecutor Rana Hasan Abbas was present. However, the defence counsel in the case, Basharatullah, did not appear before the court.

Basharatullah’s assistant lawyer informed the court that the counsel had prior engagements at the Supreme Court and urged the court to adjourn the hearing, which the court accepted.

“We will submit accused Shahnawaz’s statement under section 342 (power to examine the accused) [of the Code of Criminal Procedure] in the next hearing,” the assistant lawyer assured the court.

Subsequently, the court issued directives that Basharatullah appear before the court at the next hearing, fixing it for October 18 when Shahnawaz’s statement would now be recorded.

The case

In September last year, the police became a complainant in the case, with a first information report (FIR) registered for the murder on the complaint of Shahzad Town Station House Officer (SHO) Nawazish Ali Khan at the Chak Shahzad police station, initially under Section 302 (punishment for murder) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).

Later, police added Section 109 (punishment for abetment if act abetted is committed in consequence and where no express provision is made for its punishment) of the PPC to the FIR and initiated proceedings against Shahnawaz’s parents, Sameena and senior journalist Ayaz Amir.

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The development came after Sara’s uncle filed an application with the police, alleging that Shahnawaz had murdered Sara in connivance with his parents.

According to the FIR, SHO Khan was present on Park Road near Chatha Bakhtawar when he got the information about the murder.

The FIR stated that when the police team reached the farmhouse where the murder had taken place, they were received by the mother of the main suspect who told them that her son had “murdered his wife during a scuffle”.

As per the FIR, she informed the police that her son was still present in the house. The police managed to enter the house and detained the suspect, it claimed, adding that the suspect’s hands were “soaked in blood” at the time of the arrest.

During the inquiry, the man identified himself as Shahnawaz Amir and told the police that he had murdered his wife with a dumbbell and hid her body in a bathtub in the bathroom, it claimed.

Police recovered the dead body on his information, the FIR said, adding that a wound was found on the head of the deceased. The police team also recovered the murder weapon from the house which was “hidden under a bed”, it added.

Subsequently, the body was moved to the Poly Clinic for autopsy and the murder weapon and Shahnawaz’s shirt were sent for a forensic audit.

As per the police challan, Shahnawaz had told the police that Sara had refused to send him money after which he had a heated telephonic conversation with his wife and divorced her on the phone.

After the divorce, Sara 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 Sara 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 Sara and killed her.

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