A Canadian judge has ordered the mother and uncle of a young British Columbia woman extradited to India to face charges of murdering her 14 years ago in a suspected “honour” killing. Indian police had also charged the pair with the attempted murder of the woman’s husband but the judge there was not enough evidence for extradition on that particular charge.
Jaswinder Kaur Sidhu was 25 when she was found dead, her throat slit, in the Indian State of Punjab in 2000. She had secretly married rickshaw driver Mithu Sidhu against her family’s wishes.
Justice Gregory Fitch heard testimony that when the clandestine union was accidentally revealed to her family, what happened next was an “interrogation,” during which Sidhu’s own life and that of her husband were threatened. At one point she was surrounded by eight to 10 family members who hit and slapped her for refusing to abandon the union.
Murder victim ‘fearful of her life’
Sidhu’s co-worker Jody Wright testified “she was fearful of her life. She told me she didn’t know what they were capable of.”
Sidhu’s mother, Malkit Sidhu and uncle, Surjit Badesha were arrested in 2012. The pair can appeal the extradition order to Canada’s justice minister. Canada does not extradite suspects if there is danger they may eventually face the death penalty.
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