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Guilty verdict in Honor Killing trial


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The marathon trial into the murder of 4 female members of the Shafia family has ended with guilty verdicts for the father, mother and oldest brother. Police wiretaps picked up the father calling his dead daughters whores, and saying "may the devil shit on their graves". He also claimed that even if he hung at the gallows, there was nothing more important that his honor.

See complete trial coverage here:

http://www.thestar.com/special/article/1122764

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Good. Pieces of shit those people are. I thought the judge's words were brilliant.

"The apparent reason behind these cold-blooded, shameful murders was that the four completely innocent victims offended your completely twisted concept of honour...that has absolutely no place in any civilized society."

There is absolutely nothing honourable in killing.

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I am glad that the authorities and judge were brave enough to speak out and condemn the practice - and find them guilty.

The authorities in Sweden still don't know how to deal with this, even if it's getting better, because they are afraid of being labeled "racists". Bravo Canada!

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I really wish that news article would focus more on the actual physical evidence, and not what was recorded from the wire tap. While I agree that what he said about his dead daughters is horrific, I'm not sure it should count as evidence of guilt. I mean, if we're going by nasty things people say, when Phelps finally kicks the bucket I'm going to be the police's top suspect.

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I was just reading the article on faux news. And being the snark-lover that i am, of course the best part was the comments. People are only too happy to make their point about how terrible the Muslims are to the women in their culture. The punch line is too often that woman in the west should not complain because they have it "good".

It is amazing that so many westerners fail to see that women are killed in this country every day by their partners, quite often over accusations of adultery or unintended pregnancy that is inconvenient for the male. They fail to see that there is a surge in conservatism that is calling for women to go back into the home and become dependent on men for their sustenance. They fail to see that the reason why this is a problem in third world places is because of that very attitude. disempowering women makes them vulnerable and dispensable. If they are so quick to condemn the behavior of men in places like Afghanistan, why are they promoting a return to behavior that places half the population at risk?

I worry about the world. They seem to think that the flavor of oppression is the only thing to fight for. They fail to see that oppression should be fought no matter what flavor it is.

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Here in the Canadian press there is a fair bit of discussion about the physical evidence. I got stuck in a snowstorm on my car ride home yesterday and heard the news four times and the commentary twice!!!

1) The car purchased for the murder was front wheel drive. Once the car with the bodies in it was off the pavement it needed to be pushed. Thus they had to use their Lexus to push it in leaving evidence at the scene.

2) The gate to that part of the lack was locked and relatively obscure. It was not a likely place for an accident and took some careful navigating to reach.

3) The bodies were not seatbelted, there were no signs of struggle, the ignition was not turned on and the driver's side window was fully open. The girls could have gotten out and stood on the roof of the car (even if they couldn't swim). It is a shallow area of the dock with only 18" of water over the roof of the submerged car.

Also, somewhat concerningly (but not really physical evidence) was the fact that their computer had google searches including "how to a commit a murder", "best place to commit a murder" and "can one control real estate assets from a Canadian prison". The Shafia's only checked 6 people into the hotel that night, not ten. This makes no sense given the scenario that they had checked in and the girls went for a joyride. There were, according to the news, four different explanations of the murder (by the three) all of which were convoluted and unlikely.

The news has labeled the murder clumsy, stupid and arrogant. The Canadian justice system is far from perfect. However I am relieved it worked in this situation and a clear message has been sent that these "murders will not be accepted in Canadian society". There is also a great deal of discussion now about being less "politically correct" when considering family abuse situations which will be am important consequence of this tragedy.

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Does anyone else not believe it to be an honor killing? Domestic abuse type situation maybe... But I don't know. Cold blooded killers yes.

I want to poin out that yes i have been following but maybe I'm confused as to the actual definition of honor killing. I thought an honor killing would be more specific. Dad finds out girl went on a date and strangles her... Not as methodical and doesn't necessarily cover up the murder.

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The sad thing is if this had happened in afghanistan, their defence evidence would probably have been accepted. So few women get justice in 3rd world countries.

Here in the Canadian press there is a fair bit of discussion about the physical evidence. I got stuck in a snowstorm on my car ride home yesterday and heard the news four times and the commentary twice!!!

1) The car purchased for the murder was front wheel drive. Once the car with the bodies in it was off the pavement it needed to be pushed. Thus they had to use their Lexus to push it in leaving evidence at the scene.

2) The gate to that part of the lack was locked and relatively obscure. It was not a likely place for an accident and took some

careful navigating to reach.

3) The bodies were not seatbelted, there were no signs of struggle, the ignition was not turned on and the driver's side window was fully open. The girls could have gotten out and stood on the roof of the car (even if they couldn't swim). It is a shallow area of the dock with only 18" of water over the roof of the submerged car.

Also, somewhat concerningly (but not really physical evidence) was the fact that

their computer had google searches including "how to a commit a murder", "best place to commit a murder" and "can one control real estate assets from a Canadian prison". The Shafia's only checked 6 people into the hotel that night, not ten. This makes no sense given the scenario that they had checked in and the girls went for a joyride. There were, according to the news, four different explanations of the murder (by the three) all of which were convoluted and unlikely.

The news has labeled the murder clumsy, stupid and arrogant. The Canadian justice system is far from perfect. However I am relieved it worked in this situation and a clear message has been sent that these "murders will not be accepted in Canadian society". There is also a great deal of discussion now about being less "politically correct" when considering family abuse situations which will be am important consequence of this tragedy.

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I think the comment that these murders would be simply accepted as "accidents" in present-day Afghan culture is probably a fair statement. I also think that is probably part of the reason that the murderers were as arrogant as they were. In present-day Afghan culture the system would have played along with their story and their actions would have been considered justified.

There was a commentary on the CBC last night (our public radio) that indicated that the Canadian Afghan community is clear that there is nothing honourable in these killings. According to them, this is not Islam nor Canadian Afghan culture but domestic/child abuse culminating in murder. This community publicly supported the jury and judge's decision.

Canadian child protective services also have launched a review to ensure that child safety is not obscured by cultural sensitivity.

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It was a 4 month trial. There was plenty of physical evidence, although it was ultimately circumstantial. The vehicle had to take a fairly convoluted path to the canal, which isn't consistent with the theory that one of the daughters was joyriding without a license. The ignition and lights in the car were off, but the driver's side window wide open. There was no attempt by any of the four to escape the car through the open window. The driver's seat was reclined at an angle that would have made driving impossible. There were fragments of the family's Lexus headlight found with fragments of the rear light of the drowned Nissan. The oldest brother then drove to Montreal, and staged an accident there to explain the damage to the car.

The charge was 1st degree murder, and prosecutors weren't required to prove a specific motive.

The evidence, though, does show a specific subset of domestic violence which is "honor killing". One of the unique aspects seems to have been the fact that this wasn't something done by one family member in a fit of rage. It was carefully planned, and involved 3 family members.

Why is it important to recognize the "honor killing" dimension? It's too late to save the Shafia women, but schools, police and child protection officials can develop better strategies to protect others. All three daughters had at some point reached out for help. One ran to a women's shelter, another told school officials about abuse at home, and the youngest desperately pleaded to be placed in foster care. Under the guidelines that were in place, parents were notified of the concerns, the girls became reluctant to proceed once the parents were informed, and the files were closed. It seems as though the physical abuse wasn't severe prior to the murders. Domestic violence is a broad umbrella, and different aspects have different patterns and dynamics. Here, the family was prosperous and there wasn't much physical abuse, so the system couldn't recognize the fears of the girls as legitimate.

There are parallels to the murder of Aksa Pervez, which took place in the Toronto-area suburb of Mississauga in 2007. In that case as well, the victim had attempted to leave the family and report her fears, and it was also a premeditated murder where not just the father but also a brother was involved in the crime.

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Does anyone else not believe it to be an honor killing? Domestic abuse type situation maybe... But I don't know. Cold blooded killers yes.

I want to poin out that yes i have been following but maybe I'm confused as to the actual definition of honor killing. I thought an honor killing would be more specific. Dad finds out girl went on a date and strangles her... Not as methodical and doesn't necessarily cover up the murder.

An honour killing is the homicide of a member of a family or social group by other members, due to the belief of the perpetrators that the victim has brought dishonor upon the family or community. Honor killings are directed mostly against women and girls, but have been extended to men.

The perceived dishonor is normally the result of one of the following behaviors, or the suspicion of such behaviors: dressing in a manner unacceptable to the family or community, wanting to terminate or prevent an arranged marriage or desiring to marry by own choice, especially if to a member of a social group deemed inappropriate, engaging in heterosexual acts outside marriage and engaging in homosexual acts. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees state that "claims made by LGBT persons often reveal exposure to physical and sexual violence, extended periods of detention, medical abuse, threat of execution and honour killing."

It really depends on the place and the people as to if the murder is covered up. This type of crime is obviously illegal in Canada so of course they are going to cover it up. They are torn between their twisted views and the laws of the land. They want to bring back honour but not go to prison, so of course they are going to cover it up. A lot of them are covered up. Given the information released about the lives of the girls and the first wife over the year before the murders, I would say that yes, it does fall under the category of honour killing. So too does an expert on the practice who testified at the trial.

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I'm so happy the jury in Kingston found the Shafias guilty.

That family lived in my city. All that the 3 girls wanted was to live like us, and the killer's 2nd wife was helping them do so (she was murdered as well).

The only thing was that we don't know where they wre killed. But yeah, hope these 3 rotten people do their 25 yrs.

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Does anyone else not believe it to be an honor killing? Domestic abuse type situation maybe... But I don't know. Cold blooded killers yes.

I want to poin out that yes i have been following but maybe I'm confused as to the actual definition of honor killing. I thought an honor killing would be more specific. Dad finds out girl went on a date and strangles her... Not as methodical and doesn't necessarily cover up the murder.

This is how some of them are. I stopped speaking to a Muslim friend from India who said that if his daughter married a Hindu man, he would have her killed. He lives here and his wife and kids live in India. Fundies shun. These people kill.

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This is how some of them are. I stopped speaking to a Muslim friend from India who said that if his daughter married a Hindu man, he would have her killed. He lives here and his wife and kids live in India. Fundies shun. These people kill.

Fundies kill too, just for different things.

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