Tuesday, July 8, 2008   Return to top
~Robert~




'Honor killing' alleged in Georgia
By Dahleen Glanton and Antonio Olivo -


Twenty-five-year-old Sandeela Kanwal was not happy with the marriage her father had arranged for her. So after the ceremony was performed in Pakistan three months ago, she went to Georgia and her husband went to Chicago.

Early Sunday, after a heated argument with her father, police in Clayton County near Atlanta said, the Pakistani immigrant allegedly took a bungee cord, wrapped it around his daughter's neck and killed her.

Shortly after police arrived, officials said, Chaudhry Rashid, 54, had a seizure and was taken to the hospital. Hours later, he was released, transferred to jail and charged with murder.

The problem of "honor killings" and other domestic violence after failed arranged marriages is spreading as some culturally rigid Pakistani and Indian immigrants settle in different parts of the country, said Najma Adam, a sociology professor at Governors State University in suburban Chicago who co-wrote a 2007 study on the issue.

Such cultural unions serve as social contracts among South Asians and other communities, where a marriage agreement is more about families joining forces than about two people finding love-akin to the arranged marriages of European royalty, she said. When the marriage breaks down, both families are dishonored-especially the bride's, she said.

Subsequently, "family members, parents, are the ones who end up either taking their life or further abusing them," Adam said.

In arranged marriages, "even if [the husband] is beating her and very abusive toward her, because of the very strong patriarchal underpinnings, she is the one who has committed the crime by leaving him or by wanting out of this relationship," Adam said.

Rashid made his first court appearance Monday, but Chief Magistrate Daphne Walker delayed the case until Tuesday because she said she did not feel comfortable conducting the proceedings without an interpreter for Rashid, who speaks Urdu and very little English.

Rashid was returned to jail and held without bond.

UPDATE: Here is the mugshot of the evil bastard!




Go HERE for the complete story!

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