Pair accused in B.C. woman's 'honour killing' to be extradited within days - Action News
Home WebMail Friday, November 22, 2024, 03:59 PM | Calgary | -10.4°C | Regions Advertise Login | Our platform is in maintenance mode. Some URLs may not be available. |
British Columbia

Pair accused in B.C. woman's 'honour killing' to be extradited within days

Arrangements are now being made to extradite the B.C. pair accused of masterminding the so-called honour killing of Jaswinder (Jassi) Sidhu to India to face trial. The federal Department of Justice said her mother and uncle will be extradited to India by Jan. 25.

Jassi Sidhu's mother and uncle to be extradited within 9 days, Ottawa says

Jassi Sidhu was murdered on a visit to India in 2000. Her mother and uncle are alleged to have planned her so-called honour killing because she married a poor rickshaw driver against the family's wishes. (CBC)

Arrangements are now being made to extradite the B.C. pair accused of masterminding the so-called honour killing of Jaswinder (Jassi) Sidhu to India to face trial.

MalkitSidhu and SurjitBadesha JassiSidhu'smother and uncle lost their last-ditch effort ata stay of extradition proceedings last month.

They had until Jan. 10 to file an appeal with the Supreme Court of Canadabut have not done so.

"Canada is now in a position to fulfill the extradition request from India regarding Ms. Sidhu and Mr. Badesha. Appropriate arrangements will be made for their safe transfer to India," the federal Department of Justice said in an email Wednesday.

The transfer will happen by Jan. 25, according to the email.

Jassi's mother, Malkit Kaur Sidhu, and uncle, Surjit Singh Badesha, pictured in a sketch from a previous court appearance. (CBC)

Malkit Sidhu and Badeshaare accused of planning Jassi Sidhu's murderbecause she ignored the family's wishes and married a poor rickshaw driver.

Jassi Sidhu, 25, had her throat slit and body dumped in a canal after she and her new husband were attacked by a group of armed men during a trip to India in 2000.

Jaswinder (Jassi) Sidhu, right, had her throat slit and body dumped in a canal. (CBC)

Her mother and uncle were ordered extradited to India to face charges of conspiracy to commit murder in 2017. But the extradition was brought to an abrupt halt as they were boarding the plane to Delhi, after their lawyers filed a last-minute application to keep them in the country.

Their lawyers asked for a review of former justice minister Jody Wilson-Raybould'sdecision to surrender the pair. Lawyer Michael Klein said Wilson-Raybould hadn't considered new evidence on prison conditions in India.

TheB.C. Court of Appeal rejected theapplication on Dec. 11.A panel of judges found Wilson-Raybould's conduct amounted to an abuse of process, but that her actions did not warrant a stay of proceedings given the gravity of the accusations.

Jaswinder Sidhu and her husband, Sukhwinder Mithu Sidhu, were attacked in Punjab in June 2000. Jassi was kidnapped and murdered. Her husband was badly beaten but survived. (CBC)

Corrections

  • A previous version of this story stated the B.C. Court of Appeal said there had been an abuse of process when (the pair) were taken from their B.C. jails and flown to Toronto for extradition because they werent given the opportunity to consult their lawyers. This did not reflect the entirety of the court's decision and the story has been updated.
    Jan 17, 2019 8:25 AM PT

With files from Tina Lovgreen and Jason Proctor