That's a theory being pursued by police as family members are charged with first-degree murder in bizarre drownings of a woman and three teenaged girls in the Rideau Canal
Jul 24, 2009 04:30 AM
Andrew Chung
In Kingston, Ont.
Daniel Dale
In Toronto
After the tragedy, the mother and father wept, while the eldest son lashed out in anger, each calling it an accident, a rebellious teenager's joyride gone terribly wrong.
Yesterday, as they filed, handcuffed, one by one, into the prisoners' box, prosecutors offered a much darker explanation, calling it murder.
Authorities are exploring the possibility the deaths of three sisters and another woman, found dead in their car in the Rideau Canal in Kingston, were an "honour" killing, a crime typically committed by males against female relatives perceived to have brought shame upon the family.
Father, Mohammad Shafia, 56, wearing a shy smile; mother, Tooba Mohammad Yahya, 39, dabbing her eyes with a tissue; and son, Hamed Mohammad Shafia, with an icy stare, were all charged with four counts of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder.
They did not enter a plea, and were remanded into custody.
The Shafia sisters – Zainab, 19, Sahar, 17 and Geeti, 13 – died along with Rona Amir Mohammed, 50, on June 30. Their car, a Nissan Sentra, was found underwater near the Kingston Mills locks. The Montreal family was returning from a trip to Niagara Falls when they stopped for the night at a motel in Kingston.
Immediately after the incident, family members told reporters that Rona Amir Mohammed was the father's cousin. However, police now say she was, in fact, Shafia's first wife.
Trouble appears to have been percolating inside the Shafia household. Montreal's child protection agency, the Direction de la protection de la jeunesse, visited the family on three occasions several months ago, sources told La Presse in Montreal.
Hamed Mohammad Shafia was harsh and authoritarian with his sisters, police sources said, and Zainab had complained to police, who referred the matter to child protection services because the brother was not yet 18.
The charges indicate investigators believe the plans to commit the murders began as early as May.
Yesterday, Kingston Police Chief Stephen Tanner began a press conference with a moment of silence for the victims. They "all shared the rights within our great country to live without fear, to enjoy safety and security, and to exercise freedom of choice and expression and yet had their lives cut short by members of their own family."
Asked whether police believe the deaths were "honour" killings, as suggested in an email to police by Rona Amir Mohammed's sister Diba Masoomi, who lives in France, Tanner suggested it was possible but not certain and will form part of the investigation.
Neither Tanner nor Insp. Brian Begbie would directly give a motive for the murders. Tanner noted the behaviour of one or more of the teenagers may have played a role.
The Shafia family hails from Kabul, Afghanistan, one of the countries in which honour crimes are most common, and lived in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, for 15 years before arriving in Canada two years ago.
In the days following the deaths, family members speculated to reporters that one of the sisters, likely Zainab, might have taken the car to practise driving.
The family members said Zainab was rebellious and had taken the car in the past.
But this is "false," Begbie said. Investigators believe that on the night of the murders, the three accused operated the car. He did not say if the victims were dead before the car entered the water.
The family's version of events was always puzzling to investigators, particularly as to how the car made it through numerous obstacles to end in the water at the locks.
Speaking to reporters shortly after the deaths, the parents appeared to be distraught. On July 3, Shafia sobbed as he held a photo album in the family's home. "Three night no sleeping, no eating."
The application of the phrase "honour killing" can be contentious, particularly for minority communities that fear being collectively tarred by the violence of a small number of people.
Anver Emon, a University of Toronto law professor who specializes in Islamic law, said he sympathizes with such concerns but supports the employment of the phrase when justified by the facts.
"From a social perspective, you don't want to criminalize a community by associating them with a particular, heinous act of violence," Emon said.
"On the other hand, from a legal perspective ... why `honour killing' can be useful is that it captures the idea of a kind of premeditation – that this wasn't an in-the-moment, spur-of-the-moment crime of passion but something that may have been planned. . . . It speaks to a kind of evil and hideousness that we must at all times prevent."
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Daughter's lifestyle angered parents
Relatives of murder victim say the Shafias disapproved of their eldest child's love interest
Ingrid Peritz
Montreal — Last updated on Friday, Jul. 24, 2009 10:52PM EDT
One of the teenage girls allegedly killed by members of her Afghan-born family in Kingston, Ont., had been dating a Pakistani boy in Montreal against her parents' wishes, according to a man and woman who say they are siblings of one of the victims.
Zainab Shafia had gone out several times with the boy and even left the family home once, and was roughed up by her younger brother as a result, according to the relatives, Diba Masoomi and Wali Abdali, who live in France.
The bodies of 19-year-old Zainab Shafia and her sisters, aged 17 and 13, were found in a submerged car in a lock near Kingston last month. Rona Mohammad – the sister of Ms. Masoomi and Mr. Abdali – was also killed.
The girls' parents and 18-year-old brother Hamed Mohammad-Shafia are charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder.
“She [Zainab] had fallen in love, like all teenagers at a certain point,” Mr. Abdali told CTV News. “The parents didn't like that she should marry a Pakistani boy without money or wealth. They didn't want it to be seen by society, or by other Afghans.”
Rona, 50, confided to her two siblings that she overheard Mr. Shafia saying he would kill his eldest daughter over her behaviour and the relationship.
The Shafia family had told reporters after the deaths that Rona was the father's cousin. Mr. Abdali said that, in fact, his sister Rona was married to Mohammad Shafia but was unable to bear children. He took a second wife with whom he had seven children. Rona remained in the family and helped raised the children.
But family tensions had worsened. Mr. Shafia, a well-to-do businessman, was authoritarian and violent; Rona feared for her life, her brother said.
“The family situation had deteriorated,” he said. The second wife, Tooba Mohammad Yehya, didn't want the first wife around, he said.
Rona was nervous about going on the trip to Niagara Falls but Mr. Shafia insisted; in the household, he was “the master,” Mr. Adbali said. Rona had wanted to get a divorce but her husband refused, he said.
Zainab and her two younger sisters were close, “kept secrets” among themselves and confided in Rona, the siblings in France said.
Mr. and Mrs. Shafia told reporters at their home this month that they had pulled into a Kingston motel late at night after a long drive from Niagara Falls, and only discovered their daughters' missing car in the morning. But Rona called relatives in Europe at about 3 p.m. local Canadian time and said the family had already pulled into the motel.
They planned to set off to Montreal at around midnight to avoid traffic, Rona said.
The relative told Rona to be careful, but Rona tried to be reassuring, her brother said. “No, no, no, the children are with us, we're all together,” she said.
A few hours later, Rona and the three sisters were dead.
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Car landed in canal via unlikely route
Detectives baffled at how aunt, three nieces from Montreal met their fate in Rideau Canal
Les Perreaux
Montreal — From Friday's Globe and Mail Last updated on Friday, Jul. 24, 2009 01:19AM EDT
On a still but rainy night, the black Nissan Sentra had to thread two needles before plunging into the Rideau Canal just north of Kingston, leaving local detectives baffled.
The four-door car carrying three Montreal sisters and an aunt to their graves likely turned north off Kingston Mills Road, where it had to skirt a locked green gate barring vehicle access to the canal.
The rocky ground next to the gate would have given the Nissan a bump, but the 1.7-metre-wide compact could probably have squeezed past. It's unlikely the manoeuvre was a simple wrong turn.
The next obstacle was the canal itself, with stone moorings spaced a few metres apart, and the ancient black iron control wheel standing about a metre above the canal's edge.
If the car went straight from the road into the water, the driver would have had to make a quick left turn into the canal. Witnesses and police say there are no skid marks in the green grass next to the canal, no telltale signs of sudden braking, turning or acceleration.
It would have been a smooth turn made at a reasonable speed. The stone edge of the canal shows just a few scrapes from the car sliding in.
“The area is fairly level, there are rocky areas, but you'd still have to do some manoeuvring to get out to this spot,” said Constable Mike Menor of Kingston police.
The car was discovered at 9 a.m. Tuesday in three metres of water right next to the lock gates. Nearby residents had heard a noise some six hours earlier. Three sisters and their aunt were found inside.
Kingston police identified 19-year-old Zainab Shafia, 17-year-old Sahar Shafia and 13-year-old Geeti Shafia as the sisters who were found in the vehicle. The body of their aunt, Rona Amir Mohammed, 50, was also retrieved from the vehicle. All four victims were from St-Leonard, a borough in Montreal.
Investigators say the condition of the bodies suggests they'd gone into the water overnight.
Police are left to sort through a myriad of theories, each with glaring problems and unlikely probabilities.
“We're still trying to ascertain the why, the why, the why,” said Constable Menor, a 20-year veteran of the force. “It's the unknowns. I can't recall anything like it. It was there for a reason, it didn't drop out of the sky.”
Without revealing details, police say the foursome had spent the earlier part of the evening in Kingston.
“We pieced together that they did have a bit of a family vacation west of us on the other side of Toronto and were returning to Quebec,” said Staff Sergeant Chris Scott of the Kingston police criminal investigations division.
With picnic tables along the canal shore, the tourists from Montreal may have stopped for a moment before the plunge. But 3 a.m. would be an unusual time for a picnic in the secluded spot.
Perhaps the driver didn't know the canal was there, or perhaps she didn't care. Police have not excluded a suicide pact, murder-suicide or something as simple as the bad luck of a misguided U-turn or mistaking “drive” for “reverse.”
Another possibility is that the passengers were already dead and someone else pushed the Nissan into the canal, with the four females inside.
Montreal police said they were asked by Kingston police to locate a second vehicle in Montreal that may have been seen with the Nissan. Late Thursday, Kingston police denied they were looking for another vehicle.
Autopsies were performed Thursday but results could take weeks, investigators said.
Kingston police have refused to reveal if there were signs of violence on the bodies.
With a report from Dakshana Bascaramurty andThe Canadian Press
Faleh Hassan Almaleki, 48, of Glendale, is seen in an undated photo provided by the Peoria Police Dept. HHe is suspected of running down his daughter because she was becoming too 'Westernized' and was not living according to their traditional Iraqi values. Police say 48-year-old Faleh Hassan Almaleki of Glendale allegedly ran his daughter down Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2009 at an Arizona Department of Economic Security parking lot in Peoria.The victim, 20-year-old Noor Faleh Almaleki of Surprise, remains hospitalized with life-threatening injuries.
(AP Photo/Peoria, Ariz., Police Dept.)
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Father accused of murdering his 15-year-old daughter in 'honour killing' told her to 'kiss her youngest brother goodbye'
By Lucy Ballinger
Last updated at 3:09 AM on 21st October 2009
Tulay Goren
'Tied up': The court heard how Tulay Goren's mother found her bound and face down on her bedroom floor
A schoolgirl murdered by her father in an 'honour killing' was told to kiss her brother goodbye the day she went missing, a court has heard.
Mehmet Goren, 45, told his daughter Tulay, 15, to let her brother embrace her one last time in an emotional farewell, it is alleged.
Her mother Hanim, 45, said her husband had tied up Tulay with bits cut from a shawl and left her face-down on the floor of her bedroom the night before, the Old Bailey heard.
He and his brothers Ali, 55, and Cuma Goren, 42, are charged with Tulay's murder, and the attempted murder of her boyfriend Halil Unal, then 30, in 1999.
They were furious the pair planned to marry as he was a Sunni Muslim, while their family were Alevis, the court has heard. The day before Tulay went missing Mrs Goren and her husband visited their daughter at her boyfriend's home and insisted she come home with them.
Mrs Goren claimed when she returned home from picking up their other young children eight-year-old Tuncay, and Hatice, 13, she found Tulay with her hands and feet bound so tightly they were 'purple and black'.
Speaking through an interpreter, she said she and Hatice had tried to untie Tulay but she had said: 'Mum don't untie me, I want to die.'
She told the court: 'In the meantime Mehmet had come from downstairs saying, "Don't touch her... so that she doesn't run away again, I tied her up''.
Later that night Tulay was seen by Mrs Goren trying to escape from a window. Mehmet is said to have slapped her and then drugged her with a sleeping pill.
The next morning Mehmet told his wife to take their children to his brother Cuma's house, but leave Tulay. She wept as she told the court he said to her: 'I am going to stay with Tulay. I am going to make her talk about what her problems are.'
In the dock: A court sketch of Tulay's father Mehmet (far right) with his brothers Ali and Cuma during their trial at the Old Bailey
She added: 'Mehmet said "Come let Tuncay kiss you, Tulay. This will be the last time you see each other.'' Mehmet phoned his wife later that day to say the teenager had run away.
The next day when they returned to their family home Mrs Goren said her husband had a 'deep wound' on his hand and that his hands were covered with scratches. Two kitchen knives were also missing.
She said: 'Mehmet's hands were exactly like as if he had been working in the garden without gloves.'
She also said soil in the back garden had been disturbed.
Mrs Goren claimed her husband told her to disown Tulay.
She said: 'He said to me "From now on she is gone, I disown her. She is not my child any more. From now on we don't have four children any more, we will have three children only."
The prosecution claim Mehmet had buried Tulay's body in the back garden.
Mehmet Goren, Cuma Goren, and Ali Goren, all of East London, deny the murder of Tulay on January 7 1999. They also deny a conspiracy to murder Mr Unal.
The case continues.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1221705/Mother-honour-killing-victim-tied-day-murdered-father.html#ixzz0ZnDQtjPp
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Sheema Khan
The shame of honour crimes
It’s time to stop the importation of this murderous custom
Between 2001 and 2004, Haideh Moghissi, Saeed Rahnema and Mark J. Goodman of York University conducted an extensive study of about 2,000 immigrants to Canada from Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, the Palestinian territories and Jordan.
Not surprisingly, immigrants experienced a clash of cultures, including tension between individual rights and community loyalty. Another key area was gender equality: Immigrants believed women had more independence and rights in Canada than in their country of origin. Female immigrants believed this to be a good thing; the men weren’t so sure. Unsurprisingly, gender equity was found to be a primary source of tension between spouses. The study did not probe the cultural schizophrenia experienced by immigrant youths, or how families retained cohesiveness in the face of these tensions. This analysis is essential, given the recent murders of young women by family members for pursuing individual choices contrary to tradition.
Between 2006 and 2009, at least three women have been killed in Ontario for breaching family “honour.” Recently, a Montreal-area Afghan-Canadian woman was charged with attempted murder of her 19-year-old daughter, apparently after she came home late. While these unproven allegations are shocking, more so are the roles alleged to have been played by victims’ brothers.
In 2006, Khatera Sadiqi, 20, and fiancé Feroz Mangal, 23 were shot to death in Ottawa by Ms. Sadiqi’s brother. Ms. Sadiqi’s father did not approve of her fiancé; brother Hasibullah sought to “restore” the Afghan family’s honour by killing her. He received a 25-year prison sentence.
In 2007, 16-year-old Aqsa Parvez’s brother and father murdered her in their Mississauga home for allegedly “shaming” the Pakistani family with her preference for Western norms. Family members told police that retribution was the price to pay for violating cultural and religious boundaries. Each man received a life prison sentence.
In one other case that has yet to go to trial, so none of the allegations are proven, Zainab Shafia, 19, her sisters Sahar, 17, and Geeti, 13, and their father’s first wife, Rona Amir Mohammad, 50, were found dead in a car submerged in the Rideau Canal. The parents and brother of the girls were charged with first-degree murder. Police hinted they believe “honour” was the motive.
Misogyny over gender equality, tribalism over individuality, control over freedom. One would think that the younger generation would shed old customs in favour of new ones. But according to University of Toronto professor Shahrzad Mojab (who served as an expert witness on honour killing at Hasibullah Sadiqi’s trial), members of diaspora communities tend to cling to their traditions tenaciously in order to preserve a distinct identity. In cultures where control of women represents male control over the family, an individualistic female “tarnishes” a male’s reputation and “shames” the family in the eyes of the community. Honour is “purified” by killing the source of shame.
Combined with the York University study, this analysis makes it seem that Canada’s spate of honour crimes may continue. Cultural tensions, male domination and instant social messaging are ingredients for disaster. Indiscretions can be instantly broadcast to the world, leaving young women vulnerable to retribution.
We must act quickly before more blood is shed. These barbaric acts should be clearly designated as honour crimes, making it clear that such customs are unwelcome and will be severely punished. There should be wide publication of the long prison sentences recently meted out.
Community leaders must unequivocally condemn imported misogynous practices and attitudes. They should deal with the root causes of gender-based violence head on, rather than blaming the media for image problems. It’s time for a critical examination of violence rooted in religious and cultural tradition.
A comprehensive effort must be made to reach vulnerable families in communities that value family “honour” above all else. This must include social programs directed to violence-prone males, such as the Cease Fire program in Chicago, which has successfully reversed gang violence. Its basic elements could be adopted to help prevent gender-based violence. The program uses a public health approach to address at-risk communities and individuals by using street-level outreach, public education, community organizations, faith leaders and the police to change community norms.
Women are dead as a result of breaching family honour. Who knows how many live under the threat of violence? It’s time to take off the gloves of political correctness and stop the importation of this murderous custom.
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