Mother, uncle threatened daughter’s secret husband with death: Crown

VANCOUVER – A Crown lawyer says the mother and uncle of a young British Columbia woman believed murdered in a so-called honour killing went to India and threatened her secret, lower-caste husband and his family with death.

Malkit Kaur Sidhu and Surjit Singh Badesha face extradition to India where they are accused of conspiracy and murder charges in the death of Jassi Sidhu.

The 25-year-old Maple Ridge, B.C., woman was killed in Punjab in June 2000, while her husband, a poor rickshaw driver, survived the attack.

Crown lawyer Deborah Strachan (STRAWN) says the court has evidence that the mother and uncle told the husband that they had the money to “eliminate” him and his family if he didn’t annul the marriage.

And while there is evidence that Jassi Sidhu loved her mother and her mother loved her, Strachan says the elder woman was a part of the conspiracy.

As the Crown described her actions, the grey-haired woman sobbed in a jail cell where she is appearing via video.