Top court to decide fate of Maple Ridge mother linked to ‘honour killing’
Posted September 7, 2017 6:43 pm.
Last Updated September 7, 2017 7:12 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
MAPLE RIDGE (NEWS 1130) – The question of whether two people from BC should be extradited to India to face charges related to a so-called honour killing nearly two decades ago is something that will be the focus of a Supreme Court of Canada ruling on Friday.
Jaswinder (Jassi) Sidhu was stabbed to death in Punjab in June of 2000 because she wanted to marry someone her family didn’t approve of, according to crown prosecutors.
The 25-year-old’s body was found in a canal after she married a rickshaw driver against her family’s will. Her husband was beaten, but he survived. Sidhu’s mother, Malkit Kaur Sidhu, and her uncle, Surjit Singh Badesha, are accused of murder and conspiracy in India.
The Canadian government had originally intended to hand them over but their lawyers have argued the pair have health issues that would make extradition difficult and that the Indian prison system has a bad human rights record.
The Supreme Court of Canada is expected to decide whether they will be extradited to India, where the death penalty could be on the table. Neither were ever charged in BC because the crime didn’t happen in the province.
