Honour killing: Indian in Canada gets life term

Toronto: A 48-year-old Indian Canadian man has been jailed for life by a city court for killing his daughter-in-law for allegedly having an affair with another man.

Kamikar Singh Dhillon, who pleaded guilty to stabbing Amandeep Kaur, 22, to death on January 1, 2009, said he feared his daughter-in-law would leave his son for another man with whom she was allegedly having an affair.

The young woman, who came to Canada from Isru village near Ludhiana after marrying Dhillon's son in 2005, was stabbed multiple times with a knife in the family-run grocery store near Toronto airport.

The victim, who had an 18-month-old son, died after suffering multiple wounds to her face, head, throat and upper body. Her body was found in the washroom of the grocery store.

Dhillon, who comes from Saharan Majra village near Ludhiana, justified the murder, saying that his daughter-in-law would have disgraced his family by leaving his son for another man.

All he said in Punjabi during the verdict Friday was: "I am just sorry...I am guilty."

"He wanted the police to tell the media that he was justified in killing the deceased (because) of the imminent disgrace to his family name," the court heard.

Dhillon told police that his daughter-in-law even offered to have sex with him but he refused. But investigations found no evidence of Kaur's alleged affair with another man or her offer to have sex with Dhillon.

Initially, when police reached the spot after the murder, Dhillon tried to mislead them by telling them his daughter-in-law had been kidnapped by five masked black men. He also inflicted stab injuries on himself to tell the cops that he too was attacked by the masked men.

A source familiar with the family told IANS: "The girl's family in Punjab fell victim to their craze to send their daughter to Canada even though Dhillon's son is not mentally fit. Once Kaur came here after marriage to his son, Dhillon attempted to exploit her. But when she got her permanent residence and started asserting herself, he stabbed her and spread the lies that she was involved with another man."