Maple Ridge woman accused of Jassi Sidhu honour killing fires her lawyer

Jassi Sidhu

By Keith Fraser, The Province

A Maple Ridge woman accused in an alleged honour-killing case in India has fired her lawyer, delaying her extradition hearing.

Malkit Kaur Sidhu, 63, who is being sought for extradition to India on charges she conspired to murder her daughter Jassi Sidhu in 2000, appeared briefly in B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver Monday.

David Crossin, her new lawyer, told B.C. Supreme Court Justice Gregory Fitch that late last week he met with Sidhu’s relatives and agreed to represent her.

He noted that the extradition hearing was scheduled to begin Oct. 29 and suggested that the matter be put over to Oct. 9 to schedule a new date for the hearing, which is expected to run a week.

Deborah Strachan, a lawyer for the attorney-general of Canada, noted that Sidhu and her co-accused, Surjit Singh Badesha, 67, also of Maple Ridge, have been in custody since January.

“I hope when we set a [new] date, it’s not going to be too far into the new year.”

The matter was put over to Oct. 9 to set a new date for the extradition hearing. It’s likely that the hearing will not be held until early next year at the earliest.

Sidhu and Badesha were earlier this year denied bail and remain in custody pending the hearing.

The honour killing relates to an allegation that Sidhu and Badesha, Jassi Sidhu’s uncle, conspired to murder the 25-year-old woman following her secret marriage to Mithu Singh Sidhu, an Indian rickshaw driver.

The couple was married in March 1999 and Jassi returned to Canada in May 1999, with the marriage only being discovered at the end of the year.

The Crown alleges that the two accused engaged in a campaign of terror — involving multiple death threats — against Jassi after they learned of the marriage.

On June 8, 2000, Jassi and Mithu were attacked in India by a group of men, with Mithu being badly beaten and Jassi abducted. Her body was found the next day, her throat slit.

kfraser@theprovince.com

twitter.com/keithrfraser

judi sommer says:

September 24, 2012 at 6:19 pm

Good grief! How many lawyers can she continue to fire to delay extradition? Is she counting on more time for the next level of immigration appeals to kick in? This case has gone on seemingly forever. Will her next ploy be that she couldn’t possibly get a fair trial in India since so much time has passed? Any jurists out there?

Don says:

September 24, 2012 at 4:59 pm

Send them back now. Why waste one more Penney on these people.

Tybalt says:

September 24, 2012 at 4:47 pm

I wish these immigrants would stay in their own countries if they wish to follow such cultural trappings as honour killings. They have no place in Canada and neither do such things as honour killings.

Jen says:

September 24, 2012 at 10:03 pm

I’m sure your family immigrated here as well. Just because a small minority in a visibly minority group does something horrible as an honour killing does not mean the entire community practices or believes in this. Way to generalize!

Tybalt says:

September 25, 2012 at 10:10 am

Firstly, they are no longer a visible minority. They just choose to live in their own enclaves so they can practice cultural trappings from the “old country”. The predominant trapping other than temple, is the institution of arranged marriages and honour killings. Honour killings are not specific to this community either. A family of muslims in Kingston, ON where convicted of first degree murder for offing 4 female family members.
If they wish to continue with this old way of doing things, I suggest they stay in countries that approve and condone such behaviours. Canada is not one of them.

bitu says:

September 25, 2012 at 12:10 pm

send all the whites back first

Gary Kowalczyk says:

September 24, 2012 at 4:03 pm

She should be made to pay for all the time that the court is wasting. Or better still, make the lawyer go into the hearing unprepared. This is what is causing our court system to be so backed up.