Father strangles daughter in barbaric honor Killing

Chaudhry Rashid

In another apparent honor killing, A Georgia father of Pakistani descent allegedly strangled his 25-year-old daughter with a bungee cord because she wanted to get out of an arranged marriage to a man she had not seen in three months, according to police in Clayton County, Ga.

The father, Chaudhry Rashid, 56-year-old, is charged with murder in the death of his daughter, Sandeela Kanwal, 25-year-old, at the family’s Utah Drive home in Jonesboro. Rashid’s wife, Gina Rashid, 49-year-old called police just before 2 a.m. Sunday and told them she had been awakened and heard screaming in a language she could not understand. Gina Rashid, who is African-American, left the house out of fear and called police from nearby.

Mr. Rashid is being held without bond in the Clayton County. His first court appearance was continued until Tuesday afternoon when Chief Magistrate Daphne Walker learned his primary language is Urdu. Walker said an interpreter will be brought in to help with the judicial proceedings.

The Clayton County Medical Examiner confirmed that Kanwal died of strangulation. Police recovered an iron by the young woman’s bedroom doorway and a necklace on a family room table that may have been used in the killing, according to a Clayton County police report.

Police said Chaudhry Rashid owns a pizza parlor in Clayton County, while his daughter worked at a Wal-Mart. Clayton property records show Kanwal owned the Utah Drive home with a relative, Hamayun Rashid.

When police arrived at the family’s home Sunday morning, Rashid told them simply, “My daughter is dead,” police said Monday. When police asked him how Rashid knew she was dead, Rashid reportedly said nothing and hung his head.

About 5,000 women of Asian descent are killed yearly in Germany, United Kingdom, Canada and USA in the name of so-called honor killing. These barbaric killings are usually carried out by the victims’ own fathers or brothers in the name of saving the family name.

In July 2008, Chiman Rai, an Indian father was sentenced to life in prison for killing his 22-year-old African American daughter-in-law.

In January 2008, Yaser Abdel Said, an Egyptian father allegedly murdered his 19-year-old twin daughters in Texas and cowardly fled the country. Family sources said Yaser Abdel killed the girls because of the Westernized behavior of the teens, including the boys they dated, which brought shame to the father.

A so-called honor killing is an hypocritical, male chauvinistic and barbaric act were as a Muslim male family member, usually the father or son murders his daughter or sister as a weapon of subjugation in the name of defending the family’s name. Honor killing is also carried out against male or female who undergo inter-caste or inter-religious marriages.

There is nothing honorable in such killings, and in fact they are nothing but barbaric and shameful acts of murder committed by brutal, feudal minded persons who deserve the harshest punishment according to the laws of the United States or any country for that matter. This barbaric act is rampant in countries such as India, Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, Iraq to name a few. Despite these primitive acts, these governments are very mute on such matter which have became an acceptable way of life.