Police have arrested a man, who is the son of renowned journalist Ayaz Amir, for allegedly murdering his Canadian national wife, only a day after her arrival in the country from Dubai, where she had been working.

According to the police, the deceased was identified as Sara Inam, 37, and she was the third wife of the alleged murderer. She had arrived in the capital from Dubai on Thursday.

They had married a couple of months ago after falling in love with each other through social media, according to the police.

The incident took place at a farmhouse located in Shahzad Town where the suspect lived along with his mother.

The arrested man, Shahnawaz, is the son of a renowned journalist and former politician Ayaz Amir.

There was a contradiction between the details collected from the police officers, who preferred to speak anonymously, about the timing of the murder, who informed the police about it and from where the suspect was arrested.

According to the police, a patrolling team in the area received information from a citizen that he had heard screaming of a woman in the farmhouse. The patrolling team reached the house to inquire about the matter and then entered the premises after getting no response to their knocking at the gate.

A search was conducted which led to the discovery of the woman’s body lying in the bathtub of a bathroom.

According to the other version, someone, probably the mother of the suspect, called police after seeing the body. The floor of the bathroom was found properly mopped and it seemed that efforts were made to hide the bloodstains and other evidence, the police said. Later, the body was shifted to a hospital for further legal proceedings.

A police forensic team was called to the crime scene for collection of evidence and thorough search of the house was conducted during which the police recovered a dumbbell, through which the suspect might have bludgeoned the victim.

There were also contradictory claims about the arrest of the suspect. Some officials said he was arrested from the farmhouse while the others said the arrest was made somewhere else after he escaped from the house.

However, the suspect was shifted to the police station for further legal action, the police said, claiming that during the preliminary interrogation he had confessed to the murder.

The police said the couple had entered into a harsh argument over some dispute on Thursday night. They scuffled on Friday morning during which the suspect beat the woman and then hit her in the head with the dumbbell.

As a result, she sustained a deep wound, fainted and fell on the floor. It is yet to be established if the woman died from the head injury or drowning as the suspect turned on the tap after hitting her on the head after which she fell in the bathtub.

The police got conducted an autopsy on the body before the registration of an FIR or receipt of a complaint about the incident which was a violation of the Police Rule’s chapter 26, former DSP prosecution of the capital police, Azhar Shah, told .

He said if a family member was not available in such a case the police itself could become a complainant on behalf of the state. The autopsy can be conducted on after registration of the FIR, he added.

The police said the Canadian High Commission was being approached for collecting details about the parents of the deceased who lived in Canada. So far, the case has not been registered as the police are making efforts to contact the parents of the woman and make them complainants.

However, the autopsy was conducted on the body and samples were taken for forensic, chemical and other tests to establish the cause of death, the police said. Besides the head, marks of injury were also found on other parts of the body.

Inspector General of Police (IGP) Akbar Nasir Khan, head of the Police Public Relations Branch DIG Awais Ahmed, DIG Operations Sohail Zafar Chattha and PRO Junaid Ishaq were approached for their version and details of the incident but they did not attend calls.

Meanwhile, Ayaz Amir expressed his shock over the incident. Talking to reporters, he said: “Such an incident should not happen with anyone. When I was told about it what can I say; this is something that shakes our heart,” he added.

When asked whether his son was on drugs, he said it was a legal matter.

“All I can say is that such a thing should not happen with anyone, no one should go through such a grief,” Mr Amir added.

Ayaz Amir’s wife requests pre-arrest bail in Sara’s murder case

Sara was allegedly murdered by her husband at the family home where his parents were also present at the time.

Senior journalist Ayaz Amir’s wife Samina Shah on Monday filed an application with the Islamabad District and Sessions Court requesting pre-arrest bail in connection with the murder of her daughter-in-law.

The 37-year-old victim identified as Sara Bibi is suspected of having been murdered by her husband Shahnawaz – Ayaz Amir and Samina Shah’s son.

According to sources, Sara and Shahnawaz had an altercation over a domestic issue on Thursday night which led to her death as the accused allegedly had hit her in the head with an iron dumbbell.

After killing his wife, sources revealed, the accused allegedly put her body in a bathtub. The police had arrested the accused and taken him to Shahzad Town Police Station for further investigation.

Sources furthered that Shahzad Town Police had later named Ayaz Amir in the case. They had said that in the light of the interrogation of Shahnawaz, the police had obtained the arrest warrant of Ayaz Amir from the area magistrate on Saturday.

An Islamabad court on Sunday granted one day’s physical remand of senior journalist Ayaz Amir.

Samina Shah in her bail application filed by her counsel Barrister Hasnat Gul today stated that Sara’s uncle and aunt had nominated her name.

The application further adds that Samina has been a resident of the farmhouse for many years where the crime was committed.

“The main accused, Shahnawaz, sent me a message in WhatsApp asking for the victim’s departure before the murder,” the bail application read.

“Later, Shahnawaz Amir informed about the incident by phone at 9:12 am after the murder had already been committed,” Samina claimed.

“Shahnawaz was asked to sit in the room,” the application added, “by then his father, Ayaz Amir had already called the police. After that, the Islamabad police arrived at the scene within a few minutes.”

The application pleaded that Samina Shah had “nothing to do with the incident” and nor was she an eye-witness to the crime. It also added that the accused suffers from health problems and requested pre-arrest bail to be approved.

Islamabad court extends Ayaz Amir’s physical remand for one day, Shahnawaz’s for three days

A local court in Islamabad on Monday extended the physical remand of senior journalist Ayaz Amir and his son, prime suspect Shahnawaz Amir for one and three days, respectively, in the murder case of Canadian national Sara Inam.

Shahnawaz allegedly killed his wife Sara at home after a row over a “family issue” on September 23.

Shahnawaz — who was detained by the police from a farmhouse in Islamabad’s Chak Shahzad area for being a suspect in his wife’s murder — confessed to committing the crime and said that he “thought” his spouse was having an affair with someone else. The couple was married for just three months.

On Saturday, the trial court approved the arrest warrants of Amir and his former wife Sameena Shah, as the two were nominated as suspects by Sara’s family. Amir has been arrested while his former wife has sought pre-arrest bail. Later on Sunday, a district and sessions court in Islamabad granted police one-day physical remand of Ayaz Amir.

In the police report registered following the murder, an additional clause of Section 109 (punishment for abetment) of the Pakistan Penal Code was added at the request of Sara’s uncles — Colonel (retd) Ikram and Zia-ur-Rahim — who have blamed Amir and his former wife for their niece’s murder.

The petitioners maintained that Sameena has been living at the farmhouse where Sara was murdered.

Today’s hearing

The police presented Ayaz Amir, and Shahnawaz before senior civil judge Muhammad Aamir Aziz’s court after completion of their physical remand.

At the outset of the hearing, Ayaz maintained that he will fight his case himself.

“I was in Chakwal at the time of the incident. I personally informed the police about the matter,” he said, adding that since the inspector-general wasn’t present, the SP was informed.

He said that he joined the investigation from the moment the police registered the case. The petitioners should show some evidence for the allegations levelled against him, Ayaz argued.

During the hearing, the investigation officer informed the court that police have to recover the passport and the amount that the prime suspect had been taking from the victim. They requested the court for a seven-day extension in both suspects’ physical remand.

However, the court remanded Ayaz and Shahnawaz into police custody for one and three days, respectively.

Pre-arrest bail plea of Shahnawaz’s mother accepted

Meanwhile, an additional sessions court judge accepted the pre-arrest bail plea of Shahnawaz’s mother Sameena Shah against a surety of Rs50,000 and directed her to join the probe within three days.

The court remarked that there is no allegation against Sameena as per the FIR.

Ayaz Amir’s ex-wife Sameena Shah approached the court for bail to avoid arrest in the murder case earlier in the day.

Filing for bail, Sameena maintained that Shahnawaz messaged her on WhatsApp about a rukhsati [when a woman formally moves out of her home to live with her husband]. She further stated that her son called her at 9:12am to tell her about the murder.

“I rushed towards the room, but Sara had been murdered by then. I told Shahnawaz to stay in the room while Ayaz Amir informed the police,” Sameena stated in the plea.

She said that the Islamabad police reached the crime scene within minutes of being informed.

Sameena requested the court to accept her pre-arrest bail plea, claiming that neither is she linked to the murder in any way, nor is she an eyewitness of the crime. She also cited health issues while seeking the bail.

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