Jaswinder Sidhu was murdered in 2000.
By Deepak Chitnis
WASHINGTON, DC: Malkit Sidhu and Surjit Badesh, the mother and uncle charged with order the honor killing of Sidhu’s daughter back in 2000, are appealing their extradition to India.
The government of Canada, where Sidhu and Badesha currently reside, allowed for the couple to be extradited to India earlier this year, apparently setting into motion the siblings’ long-awaited trial in India that would, presumably, see them brought to justice. The two are accused of sanctioning the murder of Jaswinder Sidhu on June 8, 2000.
According to the allegations, Jaswinder had married an autorickshaw driver, Sukhwinder “Mithu” Singh Sidhu, she met years earlier while visiting Punjab. Having grown up in Canada, she fled to India and eloped with the man after it emerged that her mother and uncle were arranging to marry her off to a 60 year-old businessman. Mithu, a poor man, was the complete opposite of who Jaswinder’s elders wanted her to marry, causing the acrimony.
Sidhu and Badesha tracked down Jaswinder and Mithu, and on June 8, she was kidnapped while with Mithu. The next morning, she was found dead, and seven men were arrested and tried in connection with the kidnapping/murder. Her husband, who was badly beaten but survived, was also held under suspicion, but has since been cleared. Jaswinder, who went by the pet name “Jassi,” was only 25 when she died.
When the extradition was granted in early May, it was expected that Badesh and Sidhu would file an appeal, so this news isn’t completely shocking. What remains to be seen is how much this will affect the litigation process, dragging on proceedings that have already lasted over 14 years.
The mother and uncle have been in Canadian jail since January 6 of 2012, and have maintained their innocence throughout.