A daughter taped her father’s threats to kill her, other people.
By Deepak Chitnis
WASHINGTON, DC: A Pakistani man in Brooklyn, who is on trial for allegedly arranging two murders on the basis of an honor killing, is facing an uphill battle in light of testimony presented by his own daughter, who secretly taped conversations with her father in which he threatened to kill not only others, but her as well.
The man is 61 year-old Mohammed Ajmal Choudhry, who is on trial for killing two family members of the man married by Aminal Ajamal, his 23 year-old daughter. Ajmal fell in love with a man of her choosing, Shujat Abbas, rather than one that her father selected, and eloped with this man back to Pakistan. Choudhry, according to the charges, arranged for the murder of two family members of this man, for the sole reason that they helped his daughter escape.
The New York Daily News reports that on Tuesday, Amina Ajmal took the stand against her father, sharing devastating testimony that her father told her he would murder her and her lover’s family if she continued to associate with them. The once loving father and daughter, according to her, are now locked in a legal battle that could see him spend significant time behind bars.
The reason for the honor killings, said Amina, is because her father believed he was losing face in the Pakistani immigrant community and his own family because his daughters would not obey him. By marrying a man of her own choosing, she was becoming too Westernized and had lost touch with her roots.
The taped conversations, which were played in court, show that Choudhry was willing to kill in order to make sure his daughter married another man, named Abrar Ahmed Babar – the man Choudhry had selected for her. Amina Ajmal filed for an annulment from this man, although when exactly this happened is unclear.
The whole affair culminated in tragedy, however, when Abbas’s father and sister were murdered in Pakistan in 2012. Although the connection must be proven in court, it appears more likely than ever now that these slayings were orchestrated by Choudhry, who is currently only charged with conspiracy, not the act itself.
Ajmal, who immigrated to the US with her family when she was nine years old, also revealed that she isn’t the only child to have had problems with Choudhry. One of her other sisters also ran away from home out of fear that Choudhry would harm her, although the reason is not clear.
Choudhry, a taxi driver in New York City, is said to have called his daughters “whores,” and threatened to kill his daughter just days before her wedding ceremony. Choudhry’s uncle also allegedly told Amina Ajmal that her father had authorized him to kill her if she married Abbas.
Now, the case will continue on Thursday, after which a jury will decide on Choudhry’s culpability. He has plead “not guilty” to the charges in front of him; if convicted, he will later be sentenced, although the length of that jail time is not yet known.