Man arrested for ‘murdering’ Canadian national wife in Islamabad

ISLAMABAD: 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 Dawn.

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.

Published in Dawn, September 24th, 2022