Murder trial: Family of slain Canadian woman await justice
Rajvinder Kaur was killed in August 2012 by two men
Rajvinder Kaur was killed in August 2012 by two men. PHOTO: FILE
LAHORE:
Three years after a Canadian Sikh woman was killed, the murder trial has not concluded.
Rajvinder Kaur, 41, had gone missing on August 25, 2012, the day she landed at the Allama Iqbal International Airport from Canada. On January 2, 2013, it was revealed that she had been killed the day she arrived in Lahore.
Shahid, the main accused, is at large; an accomplice Hafiz Shehzad is behind the bars. Kuar’s body was never recovered.
Shehzad had told the investigators that after killing her he and Shahid had thrown the body in Khanpur Canal off Lahore-Sheikhupura Road. He had identified the point where the body was thrown.
Advocate Faisal Bajwa, counsel for Kaur’s family, told The Express Tribune that eight out of 14 prosecution witnesses had recorded their statements. He said statements of some defence witnesses would be recorded next. He said it appeared from the pace of the proceedings that the trial would take another two years.
He said that at the previous hearing seven witnesses had appeared in the court but the proceedings had to be adjourned as counsel for the accused was not available.
Additional District and Sessions Judge Sher Abbas Awan would hold the next hearing on October 3.
Bajwa said Sikandar Singh Gill, Kaur’s father, is prepared to come to Pakistan to record his statement.
Shehzad had worked as a peon at Said Mitha Hospital. He had told police that he had been enlisted in a plot to kill the businesswoman by her relative, Shahid, a German citizen of Pakistani origin. He said Shahid had invited her to Lahore ostensibly to take part in a diamond auction.
According to police, Shahid and Kuar had known each other for a long time. Shahid had told her he would pay her the money he owed her when she visited Lahore.
Shahid and Shehzad had received her at the airport and drove her to Sheikhupura through the motorway. According to Shehzad, they had offered her tea laced with sedatives. When she fell unconscious, they had strangled her using a rope and dumped her body in Khanpur Canal.
Police had swung into action after her father came looking for her from Canada and moved Lahore High Court for her recovery. On the court’s directive, law enforcement agencies had investigated the killing and arrested Shehzad.
Police had recovered a laptop, a cell phone, and a hair dryer that had belonged to Kaur from Shehzad. An additional district and sessions court and Lahore High Court have dismissed his bail petitions.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 2nd, 2015.
Three years after a Canadian Sikh woman was killed, the murder trial has not concluded.
Rajvinder Kaur, 41, had gone missing on August 25, 2012, the day she landed at the Allama Iqbal International Airport from Canada. On January 2, 2013, it was revealed that she had been killed the day she arrived in Lahore.
Shahid, the main accused, is at large; an accomplice Hafiz Shehzad is behind the bars. Kuar’s body was never recovered.
Shehzad had told the investigators that after killing her he and Shahid had thrown the body in Khanpur Canal off Lahore-Sheikhupura Road. He had identified the point where the body was thrown.
Advocate Faisal Bajwa, counsel for Kaur’s family, told The Express Tribune that eight out of 14 prosecution witnesses had recorded their statements. He said statements of some defence witnesses would be recorded next. He said it appeared from the pace of the proceedings that the trial would take another two years.
He said that at the previous hearing seven witnesses had appeared in the court but the proceedings had to be adjourned as counsel for the accused was not available.
Additional District and Sessions Judge Sher Abbas Awan would hold the next hearing on October 3.
Bajwa said Sikandar Singh Gill, Kaur’s father, is prepared to come to Pakistan to record his statement.
Shehzad had worked as a peon at Said Mitha Hospital. He had told police that he had been enlisted in a plot to kill the businesswoman by her relative, Shahid, a German citizen of Pakistani origin. He said Shahid had invited her to Lahore ostensibly to take part in a diamond auction.
According to police, Shahid and Kuar had known each other for a long time. Shahid had told her he would pay her the money he owed her when she visited Lahore.
Shahid and Shehzad had received her at the airport and drove her to Sheikhupura through the motorway. According to Shehzad, they had offered her tea laced with sedatives. When she fell unconscious, they had strangled her using a rope and dumped her body in Khanpur Canal.
Police had swung into action after her father came looking for her from Canada and moved Lahore High Court for her recovery. On the court’s directive, law enforcement agencies had investigated the killing and arrested Shehzad.
Police had recovered a laptop, a cell phone, and a hair dryer that had belonged to Kaur from Shehzad. An additional district and sessions court and Lahore High Court have dismissed his bail petitions.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 2nd, 2015.