Justice delayed once again for Jassi

Police investigators in India allege that that the mother and uncle of murdered BC beautician, Jaswinder Kaur Sidhu, showed her no mercy when they orchestrated her death.

Ironically, the duo, who are desperately trying to avoid returning to their homeland to face justice, have filed a petition to the Canadian government pleading for mercy.

In addition, Jassi’s mother Malkiat Kaur and uncle Surjit Singh Badesha have also managed to temporarily stop their extradition by filing a court claim that the order to have them deported was not executed properly.

They claim their lawyer was not present, when Canadian authorities handed them over to the three Indian cops who were to escort them back home.

“They have filed a mercy petition before the Canadian department of justice. There is no clarity when this petition would come up for hearing,” said Patiala Range inspector general of police AS Rai told Indian media.

“We are exploring our options, including the use of diplomatic channels,” he was quoted as saying.

In the meantime, the BC Court of Appeal, which stopped the extradition, is set to hear the claim that the process for handing over the accused to the Indian authorities was not followed.

“It looks like they are trying to do everything they can to avoid going back to India to face trial,” said Harbinder Singh Sewak is the Vancouver based publisher of The South Asian Post who is the co-author of the book Justice for Jassi.

Born and raised in Maple Ridge, BC, Jassi Sidhu, 24, was killed in June 2000 by hired killers while living with her husband in Punjab, India. In the attack, her husband, Mithu was left for dead while Jassi was abducted and later killed.

Police allege the millionaire blueberry farmer Badesha (Jassi’s maternal uncle) and his sister Malkit Sidhu (Jassi’s mother) hired contract killers to kill Jassi because she had married Mithu, a lower-caste auto rickshaw driver in Punjab.

Last month, 17-years after Jassi was found dead with her throat slit in a ditch outside the industrial metropolis of Ludhiana in Punjab, the Supreme Court of Canada in a 9-0 judgement set aside a B.C. Court of Appeal ruling that stopped extradition proceedings over concerns that the mother and uncle would be poorly treated or even tortured in India.

As the accused were being flown back to India, the B.C. Court of Appeal, once again intervened, stopping the extradition.

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