The Pakistani woman was allegedly murdered by her husband because she cooked him lentils rather than goat. PHOTO: FILE
Noor Hussain, 75, who believed it was his right to "discipline" his wife, faces up to 25 years to life when he is sentenced next month. Frail and with medical problems, he will likely die behind bars.
He subjected Nazar, 66, his third wife, to at least 15 years of abuse and on the night of April 2, 2011 battered her 20 times around the head and body in their Brooklyn apartment.
Hussain admitted he struck her with a wooden stick after she made lentils rather than the goat dinner he wanted, and "disrespected" him by swearing at him.
His lawyer Julie Clark had argued for manslaughter in the second degree, saying he did not intend to kill her and thought it acceptable to discipline his wife of 21 years.
But Judge Matthew D'Emic handed down a second degree murder conviction, reaching a swift decision after the court saw gruesome evidence and heard harrowing testimony.
Hussain, who has been held since his arrest the day after his wife's death, will be sentenced on June 16, Clark told AFP.
He was "teary" when the verdict was announced, she said.
Clark conceded her client had battered his wife for 15-16 years, but denied he had a motive for murder.
"Culturally he was raised to believe that he had a right to discipline his wife," she said. "I was not trying to indict the entire Pakistani culture."
During the trial, the court saw photographs of Nazar Hussain's swollen, bruised face, and of her body lying on a blood-stained bed next to a blood-soaked bedroom wall.
Police found blood in the bedroom, kitchen, bathroom sink and on a mop in the bath tub in the couple's apartment.
Hussain initially told officers that his wife died after waking up in the middle of the night, vomiting blood and having breathing problems, but later admitted beating her.
His son telephoned emergency services after arriving at his father's home to find his stepmother unconscious.
Vincent Maneri, an emergency medic, said he found Nazar Hussain with bruises on her head, a large laceration to her face and upper lip, as well as swollen and bruised arms.
Paramedics spent 25-35 minutes trying to resuscitate her, but she never exhibited any sign of life, he said.
Neighbor Safida Khan told the court she heard the Hussains argue at least once or twice a week for years, and that she twice intervened.
She testified hearing Nazar "crying and yelling" and her husband "cursing and shouting" on the day she died.
According to a relative, Hussain moved to the United States more than 30 years ago in search of a better life and used to work at a gas station.
COMMENTS (31)
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@Weirdity: Murder is what the US nationals in general, are very good at. A nation with highest homocides, serial killers and what not. And on the national level it has an army that waged wars on false WMD alarms and killed millions. And still holds the world record in using nukes on civil population. Might is and will always be right. Period
@Django: despite what you may think, killing a wife over matters of food is uncommon. ET is a Pakistani paper and the perp here is a Pakistani so why do you want them not to report it?
@Moiz Omar:
"We Pakistanis like to do stupidity both here and abroad."
Murder is a little more grievous than stupidity.
@Khan: Then why do Pakistanis become all happy when a Pakistani immigrant who moves to US or Canada becomes very successful and claim it as a PAkistani thing?
The Pak American owner of a baseball team Pak software millionaire, Pak European minister etc. Why then is it ok to say 'hurrray' but when negative news comes 'why report this they moved ages ago'?
Hypocrites.
Punishment in Shariah and Pakistani law for murder of a wife is execution for the husband, and more strict than American law. The microscope these days are against Muslims and Pakistanis, but who asks how many women are murdered by their husbands in other countries like US and India (both of which have higher rates of domestic abuse, and wife murder than Pakistan).
Its popular to demonize all Muslims for the crime of one criminal, yet Indian, American abuses are an exception according to the media (even if those countries have more social ills than any Muslim nation).
@Khan:
Because his "defense" was that being raised as a Pakistani he was expected to beat his wife. Fortunately the USA judge said that Pakistan customs don't provide a legal excuse to harm your wife or anybody else.
Ignorance and lack of education coupled with cultural influences = waste of a human being calling him self a man ..... when he's not even human anymore.
No justtification can be given of that inhumane act. My only concern is because this madman had pakistani roots, PAKISTAN is being maligned here. We hear these gruesome stories day in and day out in the US. Pick up any metro and you read such filthy news. Point being , PAKISTAN has a million issues but dont blame PAKISTAN on every stupid act by a pakistani !
"Culturally he was raised to believe that it is his duty to Discipline his wife"
While one may view that it is a domestic abuse gone wild to the extreme, there is some truth to the broad statement painted in his defense.
In general, there is big cultural and social imbalance in value towards women among the non- elite Pakistani men, who are otherwise hardworking, friendly, and sincere in their everyday life. They do not consider the women as their equal, and have totally different mind set when it comes to women issue even if they pertain to their own family.
Here is an incident which I never forget: A Hindu Pakistani doctor, who I believe comes from non elite strata of society, who just immigrated to the US with his family only a two years ago, was determined to marry his daughter, who just turned 14, as soon as possible. My wife and I tried to talk to him and his wife about their ill decision but after that they severed their two year friendship with us. We found a big wall and the communication was very hard on this particular matter.
We ran into nearly similarly incidence with another Pakistani christian family. We avoid as much as possible going to their house for dinner because we always felt uncomfortable how the men in the family, including the sons, treat their mother and sisters during dinner preparations.
In both instances, the men are otherwise nice in every day life. There is a big set back in cultural evolution with certain families of Pakistan, while I do not find such similar disparities with families from other countries.
No disrespect but the statement of the defense attorney is hard to ignore.
Why media is calling them Pakistanis? He moved 30 years ago to US and according to the law, they are AMERICANS not Pakistanis.
Lesson to be learned .. when traveling check your Pakistani customs at the border. Using a defense that your Pakistani customs allowed you to beat your wife wasn't the brightest idea - this guy deserved to spend the rest of his life in jail. Women are not property - and men who abuse them are inherently cowards.
The poor man even after living in the US for several decades did not know that wife beating and killing is a crime in every country. When he is in jail the other inmates can do the same to him what he did to his wife.
One incident does not show the whole country these things are happend in every society its not unique to pakistan only guys please restrains commenting against pakistan and sad part is he was 75 years old grumpy man with this kind of flushy attitude let him die with some negro punch in the jail.
It is a very sad sagaa and I wish people become humane and take women as equal parther. I agree with Django that these kind of atrocities are taking place on a daily basis in the USA in the hands of Police and others but they are not publicised widely as it should be done.
This was going on for a while, I presume. I think the lady did not inform her family that she was being ill treated. This is typical mentality of perpetrators of domestic violence. They eventually kill their victims.
@ Ahmed
I wonder of you are a Pakistani yourself. I am a Pakistani Canadian but never hide my origins in front of anyone and same is the case with my brothers and parents.
There are dozens of murders that took place in Toronto in past few years and majority of the convicts were not Pakistanis . And same is the case with murder incidents in New York. But why're you picking on Pakistanis alone?
And if you are really a Pakistani and so unhappy with yourself belonging to Pakistan then please don't bother going back to Pakistan next time you leave the country , and stay wherever you reach abroad. Better apply for an asylum and stop associating with Pakistan . Sounds good ?
To discipline wife is a South Asian culture be it India, Pakistan, Bangladesh or Srl Lanka. It's not that every couple go through it but it's more rampant in Asian culture. It's not something to be proud of basically. Poor women, at that age she had to go through it. Sad!
He left Pakistan 30 years ago ,what sort of cultural effect than he be having while he didn't live there ,I wonder .may be it was his life in Newyork that got him insane .and this is a big news ,as if no men arround the world beat their wives. Tribune should also publish some statistics on that too .
He left Pakistan 30 years ago ,,,what cultural effect could he be having of Pakistan ?? ,,,I think it was his life in Newyork that made him insane ...
We have to hide the fact that we are pakistanis once reach abroad.This will add up the messy situation. Even afghanis are better respected and treated than us.
@Django: Every one is hatting pakistanis, so sad.
It seems we pakistanis are most inhuman people on earth
The long line of ghairatmand Pakistanis waiting for an American visa should sigh with disappointment at this news. It would be worth mentioning where in Pakistan did he immigrate from (I'm guessing somewhere in Punjab). I think all Western countries should make psychological evaluations mandatory for immigrants, especially those from Muslim and developing countries.
@Django: Conspiracy to malign Pakistan, may be, no?
Why is this news making headlines ? Does ET report every such incident in US where the convict is not a Pakistani ?
We Pakistanis like to do stupidity both here and abroad.