Parents & Son charged with murder in case of 4 found in car in Kingston, Ontario /Canada
By Sunny Freeman, The Canadian Press
KINGSTON, Ontario. - The suspicious deaths of three Montreal sisters and a caregiver found inexplicably in a car submerged in the Rideau Canal took a dramatic turn Thursday as police alleged the four had been murdered by the girls' parents and brother in a possible "honour killing." Kingston police Chief Stephen Tanner said investigators were looking into whether the parents and their 18-year-old son were motivated to kill the girls aged 19, 17 and 13, in a deadly clash of cultures. The fourth victim was 52-year-old Rona Amir Mohammad. Police for the first time said she was the first wife of the older accused in the case, Mohammad Shafia.
The parents - Shafia and his wife Tooba Mohammad Yahya - and their 18-year-old son Hamed Mohammad-Shafia are charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder...The family, originally from Kabul, Afghanistan, spent 15 years in Dubai before moving to Montreal two years ago. Tanner said the girls were living as "Canadian teenagers." "In our Canadian society we value the cultural values of everyone that makes up this great country and some of us have different core beliefs, different family values, different sets of rules, and certainly, these individuals, in particular the three teenagers, were Canadian teenagers who have all the freedom and rights of expression of all Canadians," Tanner said. "So whether that was a part of a motive within the family based on one ... or more of the girls' behaviour is open to a little bit of speculation."...
Tanner said he received an email from someone who was most likely a family member, which suggested a so-called "honour crime" could be a possibility in the case. "That person is far removed from Canadian soil and from direct knowledge so we have to, and will, investigate that fully in coming weeks," he said. An email statement sent to media outlets by those identifying themselves as "close relatives" of Shafia's first wife said Rona had often said her husband "threatened her regularly" and "that he wanted to kill her."
The email went on to say Shafia often criticized the influence of western culture on his family, adding that "the daughters were beaten regularly, either by him or his son Hamed, because their behaviour was a disgrace to him in his eyes."
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/090723/...
{I don't think the mother really had anything to do with the murders. She most likely had no say in the matter. How horrible it must be for a mother not to be able to help her own children. God help the Afghani women.}
KINGSTON, Ontario. - The suspicious deaths of three Montreal sisters and a caregiver found inexplicably in a car submerged in the Rideau Canal took a dramatic turn Thursday as police alleged the four had been murdered by the girls' parents and brother in a possible "honour killing." Kingston police Chief Stephen Tanner said investigators were looking into whether the parents and their 18-year-old son were motivated to kill the girls aged 19, 17 and 13, in a deadly clash of cultures. The fourth victim was 52-year-old Rona Amir Mohammad. Police for the first time said she was the first wife of the older accused in the case, Mohammad Shafia.
The parents - Shafia and his wife Tooba Mohammad Yahya - and their 18-year-old son Hamed Mohammad-Shafia are charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder...The family, originally from Kabul, Afghanistan, spent 15 years in Dubai before moving to Montreal two years ago. Tanner said the girls were living as "Canadian teenagers." "In our Canadian society we value the cultural values of everyone that makes up this great country and some of us have different core beliefs, different family values, different sets of rules, and certainly, these individuals, in particular the three teenagers, were Canadian teenagers who have all the freedom and rights of expression of all Canadians," Tanner said. "So whether that was a part of a motive within the family based on one ... or more of the girls' behaviour is open to a little bit of speculation."...
Tanner said he received an email from someone who was most likely a family member, which suggested a so-called "honour crime" could be a possibility in the case. "That person is far removed from Canadian soil and from direct knowledge so we have to, and will, investigate that fully in coming weeks," he said. An email statement sent to media outlets by those identifying themselves as "close relatives" of Shafia's first wife said Rona had often said her husband "threatened her regularly" and "that he wanted to kill her."
The email went on to say Shafia often criticized the influence of western culture on his family, adding that "the daughters were beaten regularly, either by him or his son Hamed, because their behaviour was a disgrace to him in his eyes."
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/090723/...
{I don't think the mother really had anything to do with the murders. She most likely had no say in the matter. How horrible it must be for a mother not to be able to help her own children. God help the Afghani women.}
