MONTREAL, Canada: Canada’s Supreme Court on Friday ruled that two of its citizens can be extradited to India for their alleged role in an honor killing 17 years ago.
Surjit Singh Badesha, 72 and Malkit Kaur Sidhu, 67, are wanted in connection with the murder of Jaswinder Kaur Sidhu, who was 25 at the time of her death.
The suspects, both Canadian citizens of Indian origin, are the uncle and mother of the slain woman.
Jaswinder Kaur Sidhu’s body was found with her throat slit in June 2000 in Punjab state.
Indian prosecutors say that she was the victim of an honor killing planned by her mother and uncle, who furiously opposed the young woman’s marriage to a poor rickshaw driver, something the victim had kept secret for a year.
After revealing her marriage to her family, the victim reportedly flew from Canada to India to reunite with her husband, Mithu Sidhu.
The couple was later attacked as they rode a scooter in a village near Sangrur, Punjab in June 2000. Her husband was severely beaten and left for dead while Sidhu was kidnapped and later killed.
The slain woman’s mother and uncle allegedly hired the thugs that carried out the attack.
Seven men were eventually convicted of the crime in India, but several of those convictions were overturned on appeal.
The family has denied involvement in the killing.
Three people were found guilty of the murder in India, and authorities for years have been seeking the extradition of the two Indo-Canadians.
Canada’s justice minister granted an extradition in 2014, but the ruling was reversed on appeal in 2016.
On Friday, the nine Supreme Court justices unanimously authorized the extradition.
“In this case, it was reasonable for the minister to conclude that, on the basis of the assurances he received from India, there was no substantial risk of torture or mistreatment” of the suspects “that would offend the principles of fundamental justice” in the Canadian constitution, the ruling read.
In so-called “honor” killings, carried out to protect what is seen as family pride, reasons for disapproval can include having relationships outside of one’s caste or religion.
Canada extradites two to India over honor killing
Canada extradites two to India over honor killing
Bangladesh’s religio-political party open to unity govt
- Opinion polls suggest that Jamaat-e-Islami will finish a close second to the Bangladesh Nationalist Party in the first election it has contested in nearly 17 years
DHAKA: A once-banned Bangladeshi religio-political party, poised for its strongest electoral showing in February’s parliamentary vote, is open to joining a unity government and has held talks with several parties, its chief said.
Opinion polls suggest that Jamaat-e-Islami will finish a close second to the Bangladesh Nationalist Party in the first election it has contested in nearly 17 years as it marks a return to mainstream politics in the predominantly Muslim nation of 175 million.
Jamaat last held power between 2001 and 2006 as a junior coalition partner with the BNP and is open to working with it again.
“We want to see a stable nation for at least five years. If the parties come together, we’ll run the government together,” Jamaat chief Shafiqur Rahman said in an interview at his office in a residential area in Dhaka, days after the party created a buzz by securing a tie-up with a Gen-Z party.
Rahman said anti-corruption must be a shared agenda for any unity government.
The prime minister will come from the party winning the most seats in the Feb. 12 election, he added. If Jamaat wins the most seats, the party will decide whether he himself would be a candidate, Rahman said.
The party’s resurgence follows the ousting of long-time Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in a youth-led uprising in August 2024.
Rahman said Hasina’s continued stay in India after fleeing Dhaka was a concern, as ties between the two countries have hit their lowest point in decades since her downfall.
Asked about Jamaat’s historical closeness to Pakistan, Rahman said: “We maintain relations in a balanced way with all.”
He said any government that includes Jamaat would “not feel comfortable” with President Mohammed Shahabuddin, who was elected unopposed with the Awami League’s backing in 2023.
