Finally, there is at least an action from Canada in this case. CBC has reported on the murder of the canadian women Jassie in India for more than a decade. One can only imagine the uproar, if it had happened in Mexico.
By ANDREA WOO, Vancouver SunJanuary 7, 2012
Jaswinder Kaur Sidhu and Sukhminder Singh (family pix) Couple at secret wedding ceremony in Baba Bakaala in Punjab, April 1999.
Photograph by: File, PNG archive
The mother and uncle of a Maple Ridge woman murdered in India more than 11 years ago were arrested on Friday in connection with her death.
Police arrested Malkit Kaur Sidhu, 63, and Surjit Singh Badesha, 67, in Maple Ridge, in connection with the June 2000 slaying of Jaswinder (Jassi) Kaur Sidhu, 25, in Punjab.
Sidhu’s husband, Sukwinder (Mithu) Singh Sidhu, was gravely injured in the attack.
Indian authorities had long alleged that Malkit Kaur Sidhu and Badesha, disapproving of the wealthy beautician’s secret marriage to a poor rickshaw driver, were responsible for hiring hit men and orchestrating the supposed honour killing.
Jassi Sidhu’s body was found in an irrigation ditch with her throat slit.
The Supreme Court of B.C. issued the warrants on Thursday under the Extradition Act.
Malkit Kaur Sidhu and Badesha are now being held in custody pending an extradition hearing.
Seven others have already been convicted in India for charges including murder, attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder in relation to the death.
Fabian Dawson, deputy editor at The Province, broke the story 11 years ago and co-authored a book on it, titled Justice for Jassi.
Dawson spoke with Jassi Sidhu’s widower shortly after news of the arrests broke and said he was “overwhelmed with emotion.”
“First they tried to kill him, then they killed his wife,” Dawson said. “Then they tried to kill him again, several times [so he couldn’t testify in the trial against the hit men].
“Gunmen were sent to his house, they shot up his house, they tried to kill him, they were tracking him.”
Mithu Singh Sidhu was also imprisoned for four years on a rape charge — an allegation only proven false after Justice for Jassi co-author and South Asian Post publisher Harbinder Singh Sewak hired investigators to look into the matter.
The woman recanted her allegation and said she was paid by another of Jassi Sidhu’s uncles to lie, Dawson said.
Dawson called the arrests “the beginning of another process.”
“The Indian investigation has to be tested — it has to meet the Canadian standards — and that is going to be the big issue in the trial,” he said.
“Will they ever be able to be extradited? I have my doubts, because the way the evidence was collected in India may not stand up to the tests here in Canada.
“The process could take another 10 years.”
awoo@vancouversun.com
Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/news/po...+case+murder/5959964/story.html#ixzz1iyV2MaP3
By ANDREA WOO, Vancouver SunJanuary 7, 2012
Jaswinder Kaur Sidhu and Sukhminder Singh (family pix) Couple at secret wedding ceremony in Baba Bakaala in Punjab, April 1999.
Photograph by: File, PNG archive
The mother and uncle of a Maple Ridge woman murdered in India more than 11 years ago were arrested on Friday in connection with her death.
Police arrested Malkit Kaur Sidhu, 63, and Surjit Singh Badesha, 67, in Maple Ridge, in connection with the June 2000 slaying of Jaswinder (Jassi) Kaur Sidhu, 25, in Punjab.
Sidhu’s husband, Sukwinder (Mithu) Singh Sidhu, was gravely injured in the attack.
Indian authorities had long alleged that Malkit Kaur Sidhu and Badesha, disapproving of the wealthy beautician’s secret marriage to a poor rickshaw driver, were responsible for hiring hit men and orchestrating the supposed honour killing.
Jassi Sidhu’s body was found in an irrigation ditch with her throat slit.
The Supreme Court of B.C. issued the warrants on Thursday under the Extradition Act.
Malkit Kaur Sidhu and Badesha are now being held in custody pending an extradition hearing.
Seven others have already been convicted in India for charges including murder, attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder in relation to the death.
Fabian Dawson, deputy editor at The Province, broke the story 11 years ago and co-authored a book on it, titled Justice for Jassi.
Dawson spoke with Jassi Sidhu’s widower shortly after news of the arrests broke and said he was “overwhelmed with emotion.”
“First they tried to kill him, then they killed his wife,” Dawson said. “Then they tried to kill him again, several times [so he couldn’t testify in the trial against the hit men].
“Gunmen were sent to his house, they shot up his house, they tried to kill him, they were tracking him.”
Mithu Singh Sidhu was also imprisoned for four years on a rape charge — an allegation only proven false after Justice for Jassi co-author and South Asian Post publisher Harbinder Singh Sewak hired investigators to look into the matter.
The woman recanted her allegation and said she was paid by another of Jassi Sidhu’s uncles to lie, Dawson said.
Dawson called the arrests “the beginning of another process.”
“The Indian investigation has to be tested — it has to meet the Canadian standards — and that is going to be the big issue in the trial,” he said.
“Will they ever be able to be extradited? I have my doubts, because the way the evidence was collected in India may not stand up to the tests here in Canada.
“The process could take another 10 years.”
awoo@vancouversun.com
Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/news/po...+case+murder/5959964/story.html#ixzz1iyV2MaP3
