The extradition of the mother and uncle of a 25-year-old woman, who was murdered in 2000 in an alleged case of “honour killing”, was stayed after their lawyer moved a court in Canada’s British Columbia challenging their surrender by Canadian authorities to a team of Punjab police to stand trial in India.
Michael Klein, who filed the application before the court, told Hindustan Times that they had sought a “judicial review” of the decision to extradite Jaswinder Jassi Sidhu’s mother Malkiat Kaur Sidhu and uncle Surjit Singh Badesha. Klein has also sought a review of the Canadian justice minister’s support for the extradition.
“The surrender cannot go forward,” Klein said, referring to the handing over of the pair to the Indian authorities.
A three-member police team was expected to take custody of Malkiat Kaur and Surjit Singh on Wednesday and return to India with the two in the evening.
The Punjab police team, led by Indian Police Service officer Kanwardeep Kaur, is expected to remain in Vancouver while the court rules on the application. The hearing is expected on Thursday.
Jaswinder reportedly flew from Canada to India to reunite with her husband, Mithu Sidhu, after revealing her marriage to her family.
The couple was later attacked as they rode a scooter in a village near Sangrur in Punjab in June 2000. Her husband was severely beaten and left for dead while Jaswinder was kidnapped and later killed. Her body was found with her throat slit.
