Canada extradites mother, uncle to India over honour killing

OTTAWA: Canada has extradited the mother and uncle of a woman killed 19 years ago to face justice in India for their alleged roles in her honour killing, media said on Thursday.

The body of Jaswinder Kaur Sidhu was found with her throat slit in June 2000 in Punjab state. She was 25 years old at the time of her death. Her uncle Surjit Singh Badesha and mother Malkit Kaur Sidhu, both Canadian citizens of Indian origin, have been accused by Indian authorities of planning her murder.

Indian prosecutors have said the pair furiously opposed the young woman’s marriage to a poor rickshaw driver, which the victim had kept secret for a year. After revealing her marriage to her family, the victim reportedly flew from Canada to India to reunite with her husband, Mithu Sidhu.

The couple was later attacked as they rode a scooter in a village near Sangrur, Punjab in June 2000. Her husband was severely beaten and left for dead while Sidhu was kidnapped and later killed.