ISLAMABAD: The prime accused in the murder of Canadian national Sara Inam recorded his statement under Section 342 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) before a trial court on Wednesday, which gave him one week to produce evidence in his defence.

Shahnawaz Amir, son of journalist Ayaz Amir, was arrested on Sept 23, 2022, for the murder of his spouse at a farmhouse in Islamabad`s Shahzad Town, only a day after her arrival in the country from the UAE where she had been working.

The first information report (FIR) for the murder on the complaint of Station House Officer (SHO) Nawazish Ali Khan at the Chak Shahzad police station was initially registered under Section 302 (punishment for murder) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).Later, the 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 also initiated proceedings against Shahnawaz`s parents, Sameena Shah and Ayaz Amir.

As per the police challan, Shahnawaz Amir had a scuffle with Sara Inam after she refused to send him money and divorced her on the phone. After the divorce, Sara Inam reached Islamabad from Abu Dhabi on September 22.

During a heated argument, the accused allegedly hit her with a showpiece before hitting her several times on the head with a dumbbell, leading to her death. The medical report also confirmed that Sara Inam died due to a head injury. Shahnawaz Amir had reportedly confessed to killing Sara and hiding her dead body in a bathtub during the interrogation. It may be noted that the police had recovered the body from the bathroom of the farmhouse.

In his statement recorded before the judge, the accused, however, termed the allegations levelled against him bythe prosecution baseless. District and Sessions Judge Nasir Javed Rana asked him if he wanted more time to produce evidence in his defence. At this, one more week was granted to the defence to table fresh evidence and the hearing was adjourned till Nov 1.

During the proceedings, Amir`s mother Sameena Shah, Sara`s father Inamur Rahim and the investigation officer Nawazish Ali were also present in the courtroom.

In previous hearings, the investigating officer recorded the statement and testified before the trial court that Shahnawaz Amir had confessed to his crime during the interrogation.

He had stated that following the registration of the FIR, the police reached the crime scene and sent the body of the deceased to the hospital for post-mortem. He had added that the dead body was kept in the mortuary because the victim`s parents were abroad. The police also recovered the dumbbell the murder weapon from the house which was stained with blood, he had said, adding passports and mobile phones as well as `nikahnama` (marriage certificate) were also recovered from his room.