I have been following this story, and the developments in the trial intently for the past several weeks. It is such a tragedy for these 4 women to have been murdered, may they get the justice they deserve, although no amount of “life in prisons” in the end will ever bring them back.
It made me look into the topic of “honour killings” and in doing so made me really sad, as I realize this is a common occurrence in other places of the world. It really saddens me that it happened in a place as supposedly “free and diverse” as Canada. The story also enrages me in that the family of these young women deemed their lives so worthless, as in, less than the worth placed on pride and family ‘honor’. The father’s perception of what “honor” was held in higher regard than their own blood, aka their own daughters’ lives. I think what really got to me was reading this CBC news article:
The day before a Montreal man was charged with killing his three daughters and his first wife, he was caught on a wiretap saying that even if he is hoisted onto the gallows, nothing is more important than his honour.
“They betrayed kindness. They betrayed Islam. They betrayed our religion and creed. They betrayed our tradition. They betrayed everything,” Mohammad Shafia, 58, is heard telling his wife, Tooba Mohammad Yahya, 41, in the conversation recorded by police.
…During the taped exchanges, Shafia can be heard saying “even if they hoist us onto the gallows … we have not done anything bad.”
Mohammed Shafia can be heard saying, “God curse their generation, they were filthy and rotten children.”
Spectators in the courtroom shook their heads as Shafia continued: “To hell with them and their boyfriends, may the devil shit on their grave.”
The father continues on tape, comparing his daughters to prostitutes for having boyfriends, and saying that nothing is more valuable to him than his honour.
Speaking with his son, Hamed, who’s also charged with first-degree murder, Shafia said, “I’m happy and my conscience is clear. They haven’t done good and God punished them.”
