Family accused of murder, conspiracy in deaths of four relatives

From The Ottawa Citizen:

Pre-trial motions start Tuesday in the case of members of a Montreal family accused of murder and conspiracy in the deaths of four female relatives in June 2009 in Kingston, Ont.

Mohammad Shafia, 57, his wife Tooba Mohammad Yahya, 40, and their son Hamed, 19, face four counts each of first-degree murder and four counts of conspiracy.

They are accused of killing three members of their family, teenage sisters, and Shafia’s first wife.

The bodies of sisters Zainab, 19, Sahari, 17, and Geeti, 13, along with Rona Amir Mohammad, 50, were found in a submerged car near the Kingston Mills Locks June 30, 2009.

The mother, father and son were arrested in Montreal on July 22, 2009. They have been in custody since.

The family is of Afghan origin, but had lived in Dubai for many years before moving to Montreal in 2007.

The victims and the accused had all been returning to Montreal from a visit to Niagara Falls.

Relatives of the husband’s first wife have contended that the deaths were so-called honour killings, or slayings for what is deemed immoral behaviour.

The Shafias speak Farsi, a dialect of Persian, and to provide translation of testimony to the defendants and their family members who may be in the audience, a courtroom at the Ontario Court of justice building in Kingston has been transformed into a technological hub, with instant translation through headsets in Farsi, English and French.

Spectators will be given wireless receivers that will provide audio feed from interpreters.

The pre-trial hearing is expected to last a month. The trial is reportedly scheduled for April 18, 2011 and is expected to last three months.

© Copyright (c) The Montreal Gazette

Read more: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Family+accused+murder+conspiracy+deaths+four+relatives/3620926/story.html#ixzz11PlWwUbK

About Eeyore

Canadian artist and counter-jihad and freedom of speech activist as well as devout Schrödinger's catholic

One Reply to “Family accused of murder, conspiracy in deaths of four relatives”

  1. Something similar here

    Italy: Pakistani immigrant arrested for wife’s murder

    Modena, 4 Oct. (AKI) – A Pakistani immigrant was arrested with his son on suspicion of bludgeoning his wife to death near the northern Italian city of Modena after she defended her daughter for refusing an arranged marriage.

    Ahmad Khan Butt, a 53-year-old manual worker allegedly killed his 46-year-old wife Begm Shnez during a violent quarrel after she tried to stop him trying to kill their 20-year-old daughter Nosheen with a wrench.

    http://eye-on-the-world.blogspot.com/2010/10/italy-pakistani-immigrant-arrested-for.html