A Pakistani man is charged with killing his 25-year-old daughter in Georgia because she wanted out of an arranged marriage, police said.
Somber and tearful, Chaudhry Rashid, 54, of Jonesboro, an Atlanta suburb, made his first court appearance Tuesday in connection with the death of Sandeela Kanwal.
He was advised through an iUrdu nterpreter of the murder charge, and of his legal rights. Court records indicate that a preliminary hearing has been scheduled for July 24.
He was arrested early Sunday, after his wife called police at about 2 a.m. She reported that she had been awakened by screaming but couldn't understand the language, a Clayton County police report said. She said she was afraid and left the house to call police.
Officers found Kanwal dead in an upstairs bedroom of the home, according to the police report.
Rashid's wife told authorities Kanwal recently had been married in Pakistan -- an arranged marriage, she said. The young woman's husband was living in Chicago, Illinois, police said, but Kanwal remained at her father's home and worked at a metro Atlanta Wal-Mart for a brief time.
"The victim was not interested in marrying, nor remaining married to her husband," the police report said, citing information authorities received from Rashid's wife. "This was causing a great deal of friction between the victim and her father," so much so that the two had not spoken in two months, the report said.
Police found Rashid sitting behind a vehicle in the driveway, and he seemed "distraught and possibly mournful," the report said. He told police, "My daughter is dead." But when asked how she died, Rashid did not answer -- "he just dropped his head."
Ligature marks were found on Kanwal's body and police found an iron and cord by the doorway of her bedroom, where she was found. A necklace was found downstairs next to what appeared to be a prayer table.
"Apparently she and the father had argued over the marriage and the fact that it was arranged, and at some point during the altercation he did end up killing his daughter," said Clayton County police spokesman Tim Owens.
Full, sad, story: CNN
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2 comments:
What part of Islam condones this brutal, barbaric and inhumane behavior, if any? This thing, formerly human, does not deserve the air that he breathes, deserves prolonged damnation and worse. How can a father murder his own daughter? For what sick and twisted reason? It boggles the sane mind. Honor? By what twisted reasoning is this honorable? This is a cowardly act by a coward unable to come to grips with his daughter's wishes. Ever heard of Freedom?
salaamu alaikum.
thank you for posting this.
We should take a moment and offer dua'a and prayers for the family of the slain woman. may Allah swt make this easier for them, ameen, and may Allah swt forgive her sins and grant her to jannah al-firdos, ameen.
It is also important that we make dua'a/prayers to ask Allah swt to keep His creations on the straight path, ameen. I'm not going to make excuses for what this father did or judge him. This tragedy highlights how some of the more deviant cultural practices can lead us down the wrong path. "Honor killings" along with general abuse of women run against the very core principles of Islam and many other faiths, and unfortunately when non-muslims see these kinds of things they attribute it to Islam; they start condemning it as a "vile religion," etc, we've heard it all. We need to work within our communities (both muslim and non-muslim) and strive to follow our religion and not some of these more vile cultural traditions. Culture can be good, but when culture and religion clash, drop the culture and embrace your religion. May Allah swt make it easier for us all, ameen.
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