Jassi murder case: Mother, uncle extradited to India

More than 18 years after the 'honour killing' of Canada-born Jaswinder Kaur Sidhu, her mother and uncle, accused of the murder conspiracy, have been extradited to India by Canadian authorities, police said on Thursday. Jaswinder's mother Malkit Kaur (70) and maternal uncle Surjit Singh Badesha (75) were handed over to a team of Punjab Police in the presence of some Canadian officials at the Delhi airport on Thursday, they said.

The Punjab Police team led by Superintendent of Police (Detective) Gurmeet Singh will bring the accused to Punjab's Sangrur district, where they will be produced before a court. "They have been handed over to our team at the Delhi airport today," Sangrur Senior Superintendent of Police Sandeep Garg told PTI over phone.

Kaur and Badesha were taken to a local court in Delhi after conducting their medical examination, the police said. "A court in Delhi has given one-day transit remand for both of them. They will be produced before a court in Sangrur on Friday," he said.

"Police will seek their remand," he added. Kaur and Badesha have been charged with conspiring to kill Jassi and a case under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code, including 302 (murder) and 120B (criminal conspiracy), registered at a police station in Sangrur. The case remained under constant media glare.

A Canadian court had in 2016 stopped the extradition of Kaur and Badesha to India to face trial in the case over concerns that they may not get justice in the country. However, the Supreme Court of Canada ordered the extradition of the duo in 2017, but the decision was later stayed after the accused sought judicial review of the decision.

Their plea for staying the extradition proceedings was rejected by a court in Canada in December 2018, finally paving the way for their extradition to India. Jaswinder, better known as Jassi, fell in love with Sukhwinder Singh Mithu, a kabaddi player and an auto-rickshaw driver, after she visited Punjab. She was the resident of Maple Ridge, British Columbia.

Both secretly got married against the wishes of Jassi's affluent family in March 1999. After the marriage, she returned to Canada and then came to India again in May 2000. By that time, her family had come to know about her relationship with Mithu.

Jassi, 25 at that time, and Mithu were reportedly attacked by contract killers on June 8, 2000 at village Narike of Malerkotla in Sangrur. The police had said that the contract killers were hired by Jassi's mother and uncle.

Jassi's body was dumped in a drain with her throat slit, while Mithu was severely attacked and left to die. He, however, survived. Punjab police registered a case in this connection in July 2000 and named Kaur and Badesha in the FIR.

Police had also arrested seven attackers who were allegedly hired by Jassi's uncle and mother. Out of the seven, three accused persons -- Ashwani Kumar alias Ashu, Anil Kumar and police inspector Joginder Singh -- were later sentenced to life imprisonment in the case. In May 2002, the police contacted the Canadian authorities for the extradition of Kaur and Badesha.

On the extradition of his wife's mother and uncle, Mithu said he was very happy and demanded strict punishment for them. "I am very happy about the extradition," said Mithu, who did not remarry after Jassi's death.

"I have high hopes from the court and the Sangrur police for giving justice to me. Those who committed the heinous crime should stay behind bars for their entire lives and this punishment should set an example so that nobody dares to commit such a crime again, he said. "I have faith in God and I expect I will get justice," he added.

"I was left to die and she was killed…What wrong had we done? We just loved each other and we did not commit any crime," Mithu said. Punjab Director General of Police Suresh Arora lauded the police team's efforts which resulted in the extradition of accused from Canada.

"It was a team work and a lot of efforts have gone into it," he said. Recalling the time when he was probing the case as the then SHO in Sangrur, Superintendent of Police (Bathinda) Swaran Singh, said he had received life threats.

"I received numerous threat calls from Canada asking me to stay away from the investigation. I was even provided security because of these threats," he said.