Eating One's Young... (no spam)

dragon wench · Post by **dragon wench** » Fri Jul 24, 2009 6:39 pm

[url="http://www.cbc.ca/canada/montreal/story/2009/07/23/canal-arrests023.html"]Canal victims killed by family[/url]

The father, mother and brother of three teenage girls from Montreal whose bodies were found in a submerged car in a Kingston, Ont., canal were charged Thursday with killing them and a woman believed to be the father's first wife.

Zainab Shafia, 19, Sahar Shafia, 17, and Geeti Shafia, 13, were found dead last month along with Rona Amir Mohammed, 50, in a submerged car at a Rideau Canal lock near Kingston.

Parents Mohammad Shafia and Tooba Mohammad Yehya and their son Hamid Mohammad Shafia, 18, have each been charged with four counts of first-degree murder and four counts of conspiracy to murder, Insp. Brian Begbie announced at a news conference at Kingston Police headquarters on Thursday.

The three, who live in the Montreal neighbourhood of St. Léonard, are being held in custody in Kingston while waiting for bail hearings.

The submerged black Nissan Sentra was discovered around 12:30 p.m. on June 30, the same day Mohammad Shafia went to the Kingston Police station to report that his daughters and a woman he said at the time was his cousin were missing, along with his vehicle. He was accompanied by his wife and son, said police.

Begbie said investigators have "cause to believe" the older woman found in the car was, in fact, Mohammad Shafia's first wife.

Police said that by the time the bodies were discovered, they had been in the water for as long as 12 hours.

The car's front end was up against the lock wall as if the vehicle had plunged in backward.

The father told police he discovered his car was missing after the family had stopped at a Kingston motel following a trip to Niagara Falls, Ont., the day before. The family had been travelling in two vehicles.

When they were told about the discovery of the submerged car, police said all three suspects spoke about their trip to Niagara Falls and Zainab's habit of taking the car without consent and without a driver's licence, a claim police say is untrue.

"Our investigation to date reveals that this allegation is false and that on the night in question, the Nissan was operated by a combination of the three accused persons," said Begbie.

Police also said the son drove the family's second vehicle to Montreal in the early-morning hours of June 30 and returned to Kingston to accompany his parents to the police station. The couple have three more children — two daughters and a son — now in care of youth protection services in Montreal.

Both vehicles — the submerged Nissan and a Lexus SUV — are being examined by police, said Begbie.

Police said they are looking into whether the deaths were an "honour killing" — a tribal custom practiced in some parts of the world in which the majority of victims are women who are perceived to have brought shame to their family.

Kingston police Chief Stephen Tanner said he received an email from someone who is likely a relative of the family who claimed it was such a killing.

"That will form a part of the ongoing investigation," said Tanner. "There are family members in a variety of parts of the world and investigators will be following up with them.

"Whether that was a part of the motive within the family, based on one ... or more of the girls' behaviour is open to a little bit of speculation."

Tanner said the girls were living as "Canadian teenagers who have all the freedom and rights of expression of all Canadians."

Tarek Fatah, radio talk show host and founder of the Muslim Canadian Congress, said Tanner made a "very clear reference" to honour killings during the news conference when he discussed freedom of expression and the choices that young women in Canada, as Canadian citizens, have.
Mother 'distraught,' says lawyer

Yehya's lawyer, Lucie Joncas, told reporters outside court that the mother is grieving for her children.

"It's obvious my client is very emotionally distraught by the whole tragedy," Joncas said.

Waice Ferdoussi, who represents Shafia, said that his client was "very surprised" he was arrested and that they were a "close family."

"These are very severe charges, not a joke," he added.

The family, originally from Kabul, Afghanistan, spent 15 years in Dubai before moving to Montreal two years ago.

Tanner said other police agencies, including the Ontario Provincial Police, the RCMP, as well as Ottawa, Montreal and Toronto police forces, were involved in the investigation.

It's still too soon to tell if this is an honour killing...
If so, however.... any cultural relativism and tolerance I possess stops with incidents like this.

I'd also recommend listening to the audio link on the same page....

Claudius · Post by **Claudius** » Fri Jul 24, 2009 6:45 pm

killing is killing. Which is against the law. treat it same as any killing.

dragon wench · Post by **dragon wench** » Fri Jul 24, 2009 6:59 pm

Claudius wrote:killing is killing. Which is against the law. treat it same as any killing.

Also listen to the audio link on the same page.... I don't think it is quite so simple..

Sain · Post by **Sain** » Fri Jul 24, 2009 7:03 pm

Who cares if it's an honour killing, murder is still murder. This is one of the reasons why I dislike religion, Islam more than most.

Loki[D.d.G] · Post by **Loki[D.d.G]** » Fri Jul 24, 2009 9:06 pm

Claudius wrote:killing is killing. Which is against the law. treat it same as any killing.

Ive never been one for prejudice and always try to keep an open mind when possible. But murder is something else entirely. It makes a mockery out of any belief and religion that claims to value life. No one person should be given the authority or even see it fit to claim the life of another. It is just not... right.

Claudius · Post by **Claudius** » Fri Jul 24, 2009 9:11 pm

No its not right. Its a homicide. Doesn't matter if the killers were killing according to their religion. Its still homicide.

galraen · Post by **galraen** » Sat Jul 25, 2009 3:38 am

Sain wrote:Who cares if it's an honour killing, murder is still murder. This is one of the reasons why I dislike religion, Islam more than most.

In the interests of fairness I feel obliged to point out 'Honour Killing' is nothing to do with Islam, but a purely cultural thing. I don't like any religion, especially Islam, but attacking the religion for things it's not guilty of is counter productive.

Sain · Post by **Sain** » Sat Jul 25, 2009 3:06 pm

Well, the Middle East was and is pretty big on both Islam and Honor Killings, so they probably don't contridict each other.

Loki[D.d.G] · Post by **Loki[D.d.G]** » Sat Jul 25, 2009 8:07 pm

Sain wrote:Well, the Middle East was and is pretty big on both Islam and Honor Killings, so they probably don't contridict each other.

I doubt any religion would promote homicide at its unadulterated core. It is the way a religion, any religion, is interpreted that perverts it in the long run. Especially when people are using a religion as a means to achieve their own ends. Downright disgusting and the reason i tend to avoid religion whenever possible.

C Elegans · Post by **C Elegans** » Fri Jul 31, 2009 4:00 pm

Murder is murder, regardless of cultural labels.

Sain wrote:Well, the Middle East was and is pretty big on both Islam and Honor Killings, so they probably don't contridict each other.

That's an incorrect conclusion. So called "honour killings" are a pre-islamic feudal custum that still exists in areas that geographically overlap with areas where islamic faith is predominant today. It is however important to notice that many honour killings today occur among people with christian, hindi or other religious belief systems.