Indo-Canadian girl Jassi Sidhu, who was born in Maple Ridge in British Columbia in 1975, was killed in Punjab in June 2000 for marrying a Sidhu boy from her mother’s village of Kaonke Khosa near Jagraon
Jassi’s mother and maternal uncle, who were extradited from Canada to India in 2019, are currently under trial in Punjab for hiring hitmen to kill Jassi Sidhu.
But Vancouver journalist Fabian Dawson, who broke thestory just two days after Jassi’s murder, thinks her mother and uncle may walk out free.
The Canadian Bazaar
VANCOUVER: Vancouver journalist Fabian Dawson was a deputy editor with The Province newspaper when he broke the story of the so-called honour killing of Indo-Canadian girl Jaswinder Kaur `Jassi’ Sidhu in Punjab in June 2000.
Jassi, who was born in Maple Ridge in British Columbia in 1975, fell in love with Sukhwinder Singh Sidhu (Mithu) during her visit to her mother’s village of Kaonke Khosa near Jagraon in Punjab in 1994. After returing to Canada, Jassi stayed in touch with Mithu for four years.
In 1999, Jassi went back to Punjab and secretly married Mithu on March 15, 1999, before returning to Canada again.
A year later her family came to know of her secret marriage, and they pressured her to annul the marriage. When she refused to divorce Mithu, she was forced to sign papers containing criminal charges against Mithu.
When Jassi came to know of the allegations against Mithu, she contacted officials in India to tell them that these were false.
After this, Jassi was confined to her family home in Maple Ridge. But she took the help of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and flew to India in May 2000 to reunite with Mithu.
Sitting in Canada, her mother Malkiat Kaur Sidhu and her maternal uncle Surjit Singh Badesha hired four killers who waylaid Jassi and Mithu when they were going on a scooter on June 8, 2000.
The original plan was to kill Mithu and bring Jassi back to Canada. But the hired killers left Mithu for dead and took Jassi to an abandoned farmhouse where she was made to talk to her mother in Canada. When Jassi told her mother that she would expose her to the police, Malkiat Kaur told the hitmen to kill her.
Jassi’s body with her slit throat was found the next day from a canal, about 45 km from Mithu’s village. The hitmen were reportedly paid Rs 700,000.
The trial in India – during which her uncle’s 266 calls with the hired killers were used as evidence– led to life term for three contract killers.
Jassi’s mother and uncle were arrested by Canadian police in January 2012 and deported to India in January 2019.
As Jassi’s mother and uncle currently face trial in Punjab for her killing, journalist Fabian Dawson, who broke the story in 2000, is sceptical about justice for the young beautiful girl who was murdered for marrying someone she loved.
He says Jassi’s marriage was frowned upon by her family and many in her community for two reasons – Mithu was from her mother’s village and belonged to the same Sidhu gotra.
Excerpts from Dawson’s interview:
Q: As Jassi’s mother and maternal uncle face trial in India, do you expect justice for her?
One of Jassi Sidhu’s uncles in India, Darshan Singh Sidhu, was described in courts and by police as the key conspirator. He was originally convicted and sentenced to life in prison on October 21, 2005. But the Supreme Court of India acquitted him 10 years later giving him “the benefit of the doubt” because the telephone used to orchestrate the killing “was not under his exclusive control.” The court found that Darshan’s brother also had access to it.
This argument is also being used by Jassi’s mother and uncle, who at the time of the murder lived with dozens of people in a family compound in Maple Ridge. The mother and uncle also face similar charges as Darshan did in India. So if the Darshan case has been tossed out, the trajectory of the on-going trial in worrying.
The fact that key conspirator has been acquitted makes it also difficult to argue that the two from Canada were co-conspirators. They are Canadian citizens and if they get acquitted, they can come back to their home in Maple Ridge. Yes I fear they could walk and there may be no justice for Jassi. In journalism, you never want to be wrong. In this case, I hope I am.
Q: If they are acquitted, whom do you blame?
Canada’s extradition system is archaic, cumbersome and is used by many fugitives to stay in Canada. In this case, it took almost 19 years to get Jassi’s mother and uncle to face trial in India. That delayed the whole case.
Assuming they get convicted and the appeal processes start kicking in. You have an appeal process to the higher court in Punjab, and then after that probably an appeal to the Supreme Court of India, so it could take anything from now another five to seven years before any kind of conclusion can be arrived at.
Q: Since it was a crime with a strong cultural/social angle, what did you hear from people about Muthu in his native village? Did anyone blame him? Where were their sympathies – with Jassi/Muthu or her mother/uncle?
Many people both in India and some here, especially those that are connected to the Sikh temple in Richmond, which Jassi’s family are associated with, say Mithu is the one who killed her. I don’t believe that.
For sure, Mithu saw Jassi as a ticket to Canada for him and his family. Jassi was also sending him money and he did ask for it, especially one time when he wanted to buy a scooter. But I don’t doubt that he loved her and wanted to marry her and she was very much in love with him.
While some have portrayed this as a so called ‘honour killing’, it was members of the Sikh community both in Vancouver and Punjab who helped me expose this story and get it around the world. For instance Vancouver publisher Harbinder Singh Sewak was instrumental in getting Mithu out of jail, after he was falsely accused of rape. Jupinderjit Singh in Punjab helped me write the book.
For me, this is a crime of greed not honour or anything to do with culture…Jassi was being set up to marry a wealthy Indian who could emigrate here and bolster the family’s financial standing…unfortunately she in love with a poor man and for that she got killed.
Q: You interacted with lots of people in Maple Ridge who knew Jassi. What kind of picture does emerge in your head of this young woman?
In Maple Ridge, every aspect of Jassi’s life was controlled. She was rarely left alone. Her brother or uncle escorted everywhere and to and from work after she finished high school. All the money she made, was put in a family account.
In her family, men are in charge of honour, women are responsible for tarnishing it and because of that Jessi’s life was under supervision all the time.
Q: You broke this story to the world and then followed it passionately over the years. What are your journalistic feelings 20 years later? What was the high point of its coverage for you?
It is not often that a journalist is able to stick with one story for close to 20 years. I am glad that I did…I never met this young vibrant woman who was so full of love and murdered because of it. But I know her very well.
Today — after a dozen trips to India, scores of interviews, four documentaries, a made-for-TV movie, a website called justiceforjassi.com and the book Justice for Jassi —Jassi’s mother and uncle are facing trial for her murder.
For me, the original arrest of the pair, days after the book was published and the final extradition to India, were the high points so far in this saga.
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