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Canada Jails Afghan Immigrants For 'Honor Killings' Of Wife, Daughters |
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Monday, 30 January 2012A husband and wife originally from Afghanistan have been found guilty in Canada of murdering their three teenage daughters and the father's first wife in a case that the judge described as stemming from a "twisted concept of honor."
Afghan immigrants Mohammad Shafia and wife Tooba Yahya were convicted along with their eldest son, Hamed, were sentenced to 25 years in jail without parole for the drownings.
The judge at the trial in Kingston, Ontario, called them "cold blooded, shameful murders."
The court heard testimony suggesting that the father had repeatedly clashed with his daughters on many issues, including dating, clothes, and use of the Internet.
The daughters ranged in age from 13 to 19 years, and their bodies were found along with that of Shafia's childless first wife in the family car in a canal in Ontario, Canada, after a trip to Niagara Falls. The prosecution alleged that the victims were drowned elsewhere before their bodies were placed in the car and it was pushed into the canal.
“It is difficult to conceive of a more heinous, more despicable, more honorless crime,” judge Robert Maranger said. He said the defendants' actions have "absolutely no place in any civilized society."
Defense lawyers said the husband and wife were nowhere near the scene and their son's car inadvertently bumped the victims' vehicle. |
Monday, 30 January 2012
RFERL
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