ISLAMABAD: An Islamabad trial court on Thursday sentenced Shahnawaz Amir to death for the murder of Sarah Inam and imposed a fine of Rs1 million on him, which would be paid to the bereaved family.
The reserved verdict was announced by District and Sessions Judge Nasir Javed Rana, almost a year after the gruesome killing.
The court acquitted Shahnawaz’s mother, Samina Shah, who was co-accused in the case.
Sarah, a Canadian national, was murdered by Shahnawaz, her husband, the son of journalist Ayaz Amir, in Islamabad a year ago. She was reportedly killed just a day after she arrived in the country from Dubai where she had been working.
Shahnawaz was arrested on Sept 23 last year at a farmhouse in Islamabad’s Shahzad Town. 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 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 Sarah’s post-mortem examination, told an Islamabad court that the victim had multiple fractures on her head.
In July, Shahnawaz’s lawyer completed the cross-examination of Sarah’s father and her uncle. Her father Inamur Rahim had ruled out any compromise, which he had also blamed for delays in the case’s conclusion.
In October, Investigation Officer (IO) Habibur Rehman testified that Shahnawaz had confessed to the crime. Subsequently, the judge had concluded recording statements of the IO and the prosecution witnesses in the murder case.
Concluding his arguments at the previous hearing, the counsel for Sara’s father had sought Shahnawaz’s death sentence and said all the evidence collected in the case proved his guilt.
