Toronto : Canada has ordered the extradition of the mother and uncle of an Indo-Canadian woman who was killed in an alleged honour killing 14 years ago, a media report said.
Jaswinder “Jassi” Sidhu, 25, was found slain in a canal in India’s Punjab state in June 2000 when she was in the country in a bid to bring back her husband Sukhwinder “Mithu” Sidhu whom her family strongly disapproved of.
Canada’s British Columbia (BC) Supreme Court ruled Friday that there is enough evidence to extradite Jassi’s mother, Malkit Kaur Sidhu, and her uncle, Singh Badesha, to India, where they have been charged with conspiracy to commit murder, Maple Ridge News reported Friday.
They both face murder and conspiracy charges in India.
The extradition case was bolstered by testimony from Jassi’s co-workers and friends. Seven people in India have been convicted of conspiracy to commit murder in her death.
The pair have 30 days to file an appeal and the federal minister of justice can veto the judge’s decision if Canada does not get assurances from India that they will not be executed, if found guilty, the report said.
The final decision rests with the federal minister of justice and even that decision may be appealed.
Jody Wright, who worked as a receptionist in a beauty salon at Coquitlam in British Columbia, where Jassi worked as an esthetician, described how the latter spent the last days of her life in fear being closely watched by her family.
According to Wright, Jassi married Mithu in March 1999 secretly but her family discovered the fact by the end of that year.
She admitted to marrying Mithu after “intense interrogation” by her family, who did not like the latter as he was poor.
The marriage had come to light after Jassi’s previous boss called her home to say that she had left some personal items in her office that needed to be taken. It was then that the family came across a marriage certificate.
“She was happy with Mithu, but she knew she had to keep it a secret because her family disapproved of him,” Wright was quoted as saying.
In the weeks leading up to her murder, Jassi fled from her home for a co-worker’s apartment.
Since her bank accounts were frozen, she borrowed money from her friends to go to India with the hope of bringing back Mithu and the duo living together in a separate apartment in Canada.
On June 8, 2000, Mithu and Jassi were attacked by a group of eight men in Punjab.
While Mithu was badly beaten up, Jassi was abducted and her body was recovered the next day.