Yesterday the jury brought back the expected verdict of first degree murder in the honour killing trial of Mohammad Shafia, his second wife and his son. They killed Mohammad's first wife (to whom he was still married -- it's called "bigamy" or "polygamy" -- and three of their daughters.
The convicted murderers are described as "Afghan-Canadians". Shafia was wealthy, fled Afghanistan as an "economic refugee" and basically bought his residency in Canada under the Canadian government's investor-immigrant program. He owned a $1.6-million mall in Laval, Québec, and was having a big, custom-designed home built in Brossard, a suburb of Montréal.
What was the reason for what the presiding judge called "heinous, despicable and onerous" crimes? Mr. Justice Maranger said Shafia acted out of "a sick and twisted concept of 'honour' which has no place in any civilized society." Where did that come from? Afghan culture? Or the family's Muslim religion? Or both?
A good argument can be made that the society and culture of Afghanistan is not civilized. Never has been.
On December 29th, Walt posted a story about an Afghan family who had been caught trying to force their new daughter-in-law into prostitution, a practice which had been noted by Canadian writer Gordon Sinclair three-quarters of a century earlier.
Today, Reuters reports that, in the northern Kunduz province, an Afghan man killed his wife for giving birth to a third daughter rather than the son he hoped for. Police said the victim was strangled by her husband and his mother on Saturday in revenge for bearing the couple’s third daughter three months ago in Mohasili village. Another question of honour, no doubt.
According to the head of the Kunduz women's affairs department, violence against women is commonplace in Afghanistan. In late November in the same province, an Afghan family that refused to give their daughter in marriage to a man they considered irresponsible was attacked at home by assailants who poured acid over both parents and three children. Police later arrested the rejected suitor and his three brothers for the attack.
As Peachey said to Danny, "They're savages..., one and all. Leave `em to slaughtering babes, playing sticka-ball with each other's heads and pissin' on their neighbours."
Worth reading: "How arrogance and mistakes led to Shafia’s murder conviction" by Timothy Appleby, in today's Globe and Mail.
And there's more: "Shafia trial a wake-up call for Canadian Muslims" by Sheema Khan -- the name says it all -- also in today's Globe and Mail.
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