Jassi honour killing case: Accused mother, uncle extradited from Canada

Jassi, who married Sukhwinder Singh, aka Mithu, a marginal farmer, against the wishes of her family in 1999, was found murdered in a ditch in June 2000, a month after she started living with Mithu in India.

The couple were attacked while they were on their way to Malerkotla. While Mithu survived with severe injuries, Jassi was abducted and brutally murdered. Her body was found in a drain near village Bulara, with her throat silt and multiple injuries on her body.

Investigations by the Punjab police revealed that contract killers had been hired to murder the two. Call recordings showed that the killers were in constant touch with Jassi’s mother and uncle before and after the incident.

A case was registered at the Amargarh police station in Sangrur. Three accused are still behind bars in the case. Though the Punjab police had been seeking extradition of Jassi’s mother and uncle since May 2002, a Canadian court had stopped it on the plea that they would not get justice in India.

Malkiat Kaur and Surjit Singh were arrested in Canada in 2012 after Punjab police presented details of their investigations to the Canadian police.

Even after the Supreme court of Canada ordered their extradition in 2017, its decision was stayed after the accused sought its judicial review.

It was in December 2018 that a Canadian court finally rejected their plea. The two were brought to India by the Royal Canadian Police on Thursday morning and were handed over to Sangrur police.