Jassi murder case : Mother, uncle sent to 4-day police remand

Jassi’s body was dumped in a drain with her throat slit

Chandigarh: A court in Punjab’s Sangrur district on Friday sent Malkit Kaur and Surjit Singh Badesha, who were extradited from Canada in an honour killing case of Canada-born Jaswinder Kaur Sidhu, to four-day police remand.

Jaswinder's mother Malkit (70) and maternal uncle Surjit (75) were produced before the court of Judge Harpreet Singh in Sangrur by Punjab Police amid tight security arrangements.

“The court has sent them to four day police remand,” Sangrur Senior Superintendent of Police Sandeep Garg said.

The police had sought seven-day remand of the accused. Malkit and Surjit will be questioned over alleged routing of money to contract killers for killing Jassi and other information, Garg said.

More than 18 years after the death of Jaswinder, her mother and uncle were extradited to India by Canadian authorities on Thursday.

Malkit and Surjit had been charged with the conspiracy to kill Jaswinder and a case under relevant sections, including 302 (murder) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC, had been registered at a police station in Sangrur.

A Canadian court had in 2016 stopped the extradition of Kaur and Badesha to India to face trial in the case over concerns that they may not get justice in the country.

However, the Supreme Court of Canada ordered the extradition of the duo in 2017, but the decision was later stayed after the accused sought judicial review of the decision.

Their plea for staying the extradition proceedings was rejected by a court in Canada in December 2018, finally paving the way for their extradition to India.

Jaswinder, better known as Jassi, fell in love with Sukhwinder Singh Mithu, a kabaddi player and an autorickshaw driver, after she visited Punjab. She was the resident of Maple Ridge, British Columbia.

Both secretly got married against the wishes of Jassi’s affluent family in March 1999.

After the marriage, she returned to Canada and then came to India again in May 2000.

By that time, her family had come to know about her relationship with Mithu. Jassi, 25 at that time, and Mithu were reportedly attacked by contract killers on June 8, 2000 at village Narike of Malerkotla in Sangrur.

The police had said that the contract killers were hired by Jassi’s mother and uncle. Jassi’s body was dumped in a drain with her throat slit, while Mithu was severely attacked and left to die.

He, however, survived. Punjab police registered a case in this connection in July 2000 and named Malkit and Surjit in the FIR.