I don't think that a whitebread gril like me could have felt such instant, visceral anger if this story were not part of every woman's heritage.

I am anticipating the boneheaded ethnocentric reactions to this murder that we are going to hear and read in the mainstream press in days to come. And yet, in my adult lifetime, Canadian law and Canadian courts and judges have given fathers and brothers similar powers over their daughters and sisters should those daughters and sisters shame the family "pride."

As evidence, see this recent thread about the case of Velma Demerson, settled only within the last two years with the province of Ontario.

I very much fear the political hay that racists and reactionaries in Canada are likely to make of this case. But I also fear that, in resisting that cynical exploitation of this tragedy -- and a genuine Romeo and Juliet tragedy it unquestionably is -- many of us may lose sight of the essential tragedy itself.

They were beautiful and young and good, both of them. The heart breaks over both of them. The mutual tenderness was goodness overwhelming.

And it was overwhelmed by hatred -- and fear.

[ 03 March 2005: Message edited by: skdadl ]

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VANCOUVER - A British Columbia man has been convicted of second-degree murder in the July 2003 stabbing death of his teenage daughter.

A jury deliberated for five hours before coming up with the guilty verdict Friday for Rajinder Singh Atwal, 48.

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Turns out that some of the stab wounds were post mortum ,i.e., after she was dead he kept stabbing her. That must have made things easier for the jury. They deliberated for about 5 hours. Mind you, the father should also have been charged with "indignities on a dead person" as well as murder.

As an aside, I can't imagine how the father ever thought the "she stabbed herself" story would be credible. I can't help but think of some of the suicide rates in parts of the world and wonder to what extent they are actually suicides.

edited "at" for "and" arrgg!

[ 05 March 2005: Message edited by: dokidoki ]

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Originally posted by Mr. Magoo:
I think it's worth noting that this case, and the case of Velma Demerson, were not just products of patriarchy, but also racism.

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Racism was certainly an aggravating factor in Velma's case, and the injustice done to her husband must be recognized as racism pure and simple, but we need to remember that thousands of young women like Velma were treated in much the same way in this country into the 1960s, whatever the ethnicity of their lovers.

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VANCOUVER -- A Sikh man who killed his teenage daughter over an affair with a white man is being praised by his wife and other children.

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During a sentencing hearing in B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver, the defence submitted a statement from his other daughter Tejinder, who said: "My dad has been here for me all my life."

In other statement, Atwal's son Narinder called his father "a great human being."

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Originally posted by Nikita:
This, to me, seems completely warped. I just do not understand it.

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Originally posted by Nikita:

This, to me, seems completely warped. I just do not understand it.

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it's only a suspicion, but it's entirely possible that a man who would stab his daughter several times even after she's dead, and then tries to claim that his daughter stabbed herself (!) is abusive toward his wife and other kids. so, it's probable that he threatened them and told them what to say. it's also possible that his wife really does agree with his reprehensible action. we don't know how old his other daughter, tejinder, is. so, it's hard to tell if she really does support her father's misdeed or not (i.e., is she old/mature enough to fully absorb the effects of what happened). regardless, i worry about the impact of this incident on tejinder.

the link to the story in this thread didn't work for me. so i searched and got this link instead. this part really throws me off:

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Family friends who attended the same Sikh temple as the Atwals say the loving, tight-knit family didn't have a problem with Amandeep dating outside the community. Amandeep's older brother, Nawinder, at one time had a white girlfriend the family knew about.

"He [Rajinder Atwal] was very lenient, a very gracious father," said Prithipal Chhina. "He was an active, moderate Sikh."

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So how come the RCMP, who "always get their man" can't do anything about this? A canadian citizen is murdered at the order of someone in Canada and the much vaunted Canadian police suddenly become the Keystone Cops??

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Originally posted by anne cameron:
I would imagine one of the reasons her sister said Popsie was a prince among men was that she didn't want to be chopped up, too.

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