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"What crime did I commit other than loving Jassi."
To hear South Asian Post publisher Harbinder Singh Sewak discuss Mithu's harrowing saga of murder and betrayal with CBC-TV reporter Melanie Nagy, click here.
By Mata Press Service
Twice framed for crimes he did not commit, Sukhwinder Singh walked out of jail last Friday afternoon with gratitude in his heart, revenge on his mind and an unbearable sadness for the woman he loved.
Sukhwinder Singh — aka Mithu — is the central figure in an international saga of forbidden love that culminated in the cultural murder of Jaswinder Kaur Sidhu, a beautician from Maple Ridge, British Columbia.
Jaswinder, or Jassi, was 25-years-old when she was kidnapped, tortured and killed in the spring of 2000 after going against her family's wishes and marrying Mithu.
Mithu, a poor auto-rickshaw driver, was hacked by swords and left for dead after his wife was whisked away.
After several weeks in a coma, he awoke to be told that Jassi, whom he had secretly married, had been brutally slain.
Indian police had by that time arrested the hired assassins and Jassi’s uncles in India, and accused her mother and another millionaire uncle in Canada of orchestrating the murder.
Just as Jassi’s murder trial in India got underway in 2004, Mithu — a key witness to the killing — was charged with raping a girl from his village.
Despite protesting his innocence and insisting he was being framed to derail the murder case, Indian cops and the justice system threw him in jail pending a trial. Mithu faced 15 years in jail for a rape he did not commit.
The system was convinced by the lies told by the “rape victim,” identified in court papers as Iqbal Kaur, and it moved in step with the powerful relatives of Jassi in India to deny Mithu bail.
Since August 2004, Mithu shared a small cell with hardened criminals in the Ludhiana Central Jail and fought for his freedom with the help of Vancouver-based publisher Harbinder Singh Sewak.
Sewak set up a website called JusticeforJassi.com to bring international awareness to the case and hired lawyers in India to pursue Mithu’s freedom.
Using hisAsian Pacific Post and South Asian Post newspapers in Vancouver, Sewak enlisted the help of Fabian Dawson, the deputy editor-in-chief of the Vancouver Province,and journalists in India to investigate the case.
The investigation showed several discrepancies in the police rape file and eventually shed light on the connections between the “rape victim” and Jassi’s relatives in India.
On the afternoon of April 26, 2008, the efforts paid off.
Iqbal Kaur, 19, who accused Mithu of rape, confessed before Additional Session Judge A. S. Grewal in Ludhiana, Punjab that she had falsely named Mithu as the rapist at the behest of Jassi’s uncles in India.
Her younger sister, who also identified Mithu as the rapist, told the court: "I named Mithu under the pressure of the influential uncles of Jassi. I don't know on what statement police got my signatures. Later, when we learnt Mithu had been booked and arrested, they (the uncles) threatened we would meet the same fate as Jassi if we changed our story," she told the judge.
Iqbal said she was raped on the night of August 14, 2004 at her home.
But she does not know the assailant and was coerced to name Mithu as the rapist.
“This is a tragedy beyond imagination,” said Sewak in Vancouver.
“I am glad to have been able to play a role to correct this miscarriage of justice . . . I hope Mithu can now rebuild his life.”
Charanjit Singh Bakshi, one of Mithu’s lawyers congratulated the work done by the Asian Pacific Post and the South Asian Post to secure the release of an innocent man.
“Justice has indeed been dispensed despite our serious apprehensions. We must appreciate the crusading journalistic efforts in this regard,” he said.
Bikram Jit Singh Sidhu, another of Mithu’s lawyers said his client’s release represented a red letter day for the justice system in India.
"But who is going to return the three years of his life in the jail?,” he asked.
Ludhiana Central jail is a sprawling penal colony surrounded by high brick walls and manned by 165 guards.Like Many of India’s prisons, it dates back to the era of British colonial rule, with thousands of prisoners kept in crumbling facilities. The jail built originally built for about 500 inmates currently houses over 2,600 convicts and accused persons awaiting trial.
Jupinderjit Singh, a correspondent with The Tribune in India, who has been following the case for the last eight years, wrote that Mithu would not have been released if not for Sewak’s efforts.
“Canadian residents were so anguished at the murder of Jassi and the arrest of Mithu that thousands of them supported a media campaign and a website – JusticeforJassi.com
floated by the Asian Pacific Post and the South Asian Post,” said journalist Singh.
Emerging from the prison he has called home for the last 44 months, Mithu expressed his gratitude to the thousands of people who have written to support him on JusticeforJassi.com
“I can’t say enough about what you have done for me,” he said, referring to Sewak’s tireless efforts.
“I fought to live with my love . . . I fought death after being attacked . . . I have fought the police, the courts and the false accusers. But my struggle will only end when the people responsible for Jassi’s murder are extradited to India and pay for the crime.
“What crime did I commit other than loving Jassi?”
This was the second time Mithu was jailed on false charges.
After Jassi’s family in B.C. found out that she had secretly married Mithu, they lodged a police report claiming that he had forced the marriage at gunpoint. Forced marriages are illegal in India.
Mithu was arrested and thrown in jail. Jassi escaped from her family in Maple Ridge and fled to India to secure his release.
Shortly after, Jassi's body was found in a canal with its throat slit.
Indian police alleged that family members, including her mother and uncle in B.C., paid thugs up to $50,000 for the hit. The police in court papers allege that the order to kill “came from Canada” after Jassi pleaded for her life over the phone from an abandoned farmhouse.
They have charged Jassi's mother, Malkiat Kaur, and uncle, Surjit Singh Badesha, both of the Metro Vancouver suburb of Maple Ridge, with conspiracy to commit murder.
The wealthy Fraser Valley farming family has denied any involvement in the incident.
Indian police have revised their extradition requests several times, but the duo remains free in Canada.
The RCMP will only say that the file remains open.
Last February, a court in India upheld the life sentences given to four men charged in connection with Jassi’s murder.
Three others who were sentenced to life imprisonment in connection with the case were acquitted.
For more on this story go to www.justiceforjassi.com
Excerpts from the false testimony by 19-year Iqbal Kaur which kept an innocent man in jail for almost four years:
“ On August 14, 2004, my mother Gurmit Kaur and my brother Inderjit Singh had gone to village Badesan to the house of my sister Sarabjit Kaur. I and my younger sister Charanjit Kaur were alone in the house. At about 8 pm, my aunt Surjit Kaur came to our house. After bolting the door of the house, my aunt Surjit Kaur and sister Charanjit went to sleep in the courtyard and I went to sleep in a room of the house. The electricity of the room was on and the door of the room was also open. At about 11 pm, Sukhwinder Singh @ Mithu after scaling the wall came to our house and thereafter came to my room. I tried to raise the alarm, but he gagged my mouth with the help of cloth. Thereafter, he removed my salwar(Indian trouser suit) and underwear and committed rape on me. I asked the accused not to do so by giving signal with my head, but he did not pay any heed to it. On hearing sounds, my sister, Charanjit Kaur came to the room. The accused was committing rape on me. My sister Charanjit raised the alarm, on which, my aunt Surjit Kaur also came into the room…and at that time, the accused was in a naked condition. When my aunt Surjit Kaur tried to catch hold of the accused, he gave push to her and fled after scaling the wall. When accused was committing rape on me, he also threatened to kill me in case I raised the alarm. On that day, I told my aunt to remain silent, otherwise, I would be insulted and after calling my parents, I would tell them about it. On August 15, 2004, I along with my sister Charanjit went to village Badesan and told the whole story to my mother Gurmit Kaur. Thereafter, we came back to our village and telephoned my father who was in Jalandhar. My father came to the village on Aug 16, 2004 at about 4 pm. I told him about the incident. I identify the accused as Sukhwinder Singh, present today in court. He is a member of the village council. I along with my mother and father went to record my police statement on August 16, 2004. I was also medically examined.”
Timeline of a tragedy
1995:After graduating from a high school in Maple Ridge, British Columbia Jassi goes to her home village in Punjab, India accompanied by her aunt, uncle and mother. There she meets Mithu, an auto rickshaw driver; the couple falls deeply in love.
1995 to 1999: The couple maintains a clandestine long-distance relationship using friends as couriers and go-betweens. At the same time Jassi’s family is busy making arrangements for her to get married to a wealthy man.
February 1999: Jassi goes back to India with her family. The purpose of the visit is to finalise a marriage for Jassi. Jassi turns down all suitors
March 15, 1999:Jassi and Mithu marry secretly at a temple in Ludhiana and register their marriage in Baba Bekala. Jassi tells her family she is on a trip with her cousins while the couple enjoys their honeymoon. Jassi returns to Canada promising to arrange for Mithu to immigrate.
April to June 1999– Jassi works at a beauty salon in Port Coquitlam. Mithu’s letters are kept in a drawer at the salon. She sends him money to buy a motorcycle. Her family comes to know of the secret marriage after noticing the cash withdrawals from the family bank account.
June 1999 to Feb 2000:Jassi's family insists she divorce Mithu. She is beaten and locked up in her room. They get her to sign a blank piece of paper saying they are going to buy a car for her.
February 2000:The signature is used to draw up a fake affidavit in which Mithu is accused of kidnapping and marrying Jassi at gunpoint. Mithu and his friends are arrested by Indian police and beaten. Mithu pleads with Jassi for help.
March 2000:Jassi sends a fax to Indian police refuting the affidavit saying she married Mithu of her free will and that her family concocted the story of her being kidnapped.
April 2000: Jassi contacts the Maple Ridge RCMP saying she is being beaten and held against her will. She gets a new passport and rushes to India to secure the release of her husband. Mithu is released from jail after police confirm that the affidavit they used to arrest him contained false information.
April and June 2000: Jassi and Mithu are constantly harassed and threatened. They move from place to place living with Mithu’s relatives.
June 7, 2000:Jassi’s mother tracks down the couple and talks to Jassi over the phone asking her to come home and that all is forgiven.
June 8, 2000: The couple is ambushed and attacked by gang armed with swords and sharpened hockey sticks. Mithu is left for dead by the roadside, while Jassi is taken to an abandoned farmhouse. Mithu is found by passers-by and rushed to hospital. According to court papers Jassi's mother orders the murder of Jassi after she refuses to come home and keep silent about the attack.
June 9, 2000:Jassi's body is found, her throat slit, in an irrigation canal.
June 10, 2000:Mithu is in a coma and doctors say he may not survive the head wounds he sustained; Mithu’s mother and brother claim Jassi’s body and conduct a cremation ceremony.
June 18, 2000:Fabian Dawson, Province deputy editor-in-chief breaks the story in a front page article. Jassi’s family, whom he interviewed, denies any involvement with the murder. In subsequent stories, Dawson details the arrest of 11 people, including Jassi’s relatives in India and the hired thugs. Police in India allege that the murder was orchestrated in Canada and that the “order to kill” came from Maple Ridge.
July 2000:Mithu is released from hospital but his life is in danger. Gunmen attack his house. A court orders police protection for him.
July 2000 to August 2004: The case winds through the court system in India. Extradition requests from Indian police are rejected. The RCMP keeps silent on the case saying investigations continue. Dawson helps produce a documentary on the murder, the first of three. Mithu is elected to his local village council as he continues to fight for justice. Vancouver publisher Harbinder Singh Sewak creates a website called JusticeforJassi.com that attracts thousands of messages worldwide.
August 2004: Mithu is arrested after a 19-year-old girl from his village claims he broke into her house and raped her. Mithu maintains his innocence and claims he was framed. But his pleas are denied and he is thrown in jail without bail.
October 2005: Seven men are convicted in plotting and killing Jassi, including police officer Joginder Singh. They are given life sentences. Indian police renew their efforts to extradite Jassi’s mother and uncle from Maple Ridge.
December 2005:Harbinder Singh Sewak ramps up his efforts to expose the lies that have put Mithu in jail. He hires lawyers and Indian reporters to dig into the police files.
February 2006:CBC airs a made-for-TV movie called Murder Unveiled on the Jassi case. Dawson is a consultant on this modern day Romeo and Juliet story, where the woman pays the ultimate price for her love. There is an outpouring of indignation on the justiceforjassi.com website.
June 2007:Two RCMP officers visit Mithu in Ludhiana jail to record his statements, seven years after his wife was murdered.
Feb 2008:A court in India upholds the life sentences given to four men charged in connection with Jassi’s murder. Three others who were sentenced to life imprisonment were acquitted. Mithu is told of the verdict in jail.
March 2008:The Asian Pacific Post and the South Asian Post question police on the relationship between the “rape victim’s” father and one of Jassi’s uncles. The “rape victim” admits she was coerced into identifying Mithu by Jassi’s uncles. She recants her accusations and files an affidavit in Court. She said she was raped but did not know who her assailant was.
April 26, 2008: Mithu walks out of jail, 44 months after he was falsely accused of rape.
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