ISLAMABAD, Sep 26(ABC): Senior journalist Ayaz Amir’s ex-wife and mother of Shahnawaz — who allegedly killed his wife Sara at home after a row over a “family issue” — has approached an Islamabad court for bail to avoid arrest in the murder case.
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 accused by Sara’s family. Amir has been arrested while his former wife has sought pre-arrest bail.
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.
Sameena’s bail plea
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.
