The South Asian Post has been following the story of Mithu and his murdered wife Jassi since the Spring of 2000, when the young, star-crossed couple was ambushed and Jassi Kaur, of Maple Ridge, B.C., brutally murdered in Punjab, India – allegedly at the behest of her family, who disapproved of her marriage to the lowly Mithu.
The Post has followed the case for the past eight years, and has created and hosts a website (www.justiceforjassi.com) to provide a forum for people to express their anguish and indignation over the death of Jassi and the subsequent persecution of her husband, Mithu.
Thousands of messages have been posted to the site. “The story is a tragedy,” said Shushma Datt, founder and CEO of i.t. Productions Ltd., owner of CJRJ AM 1200 Vancouver. “You brought some
justice to this tale and were honoured for it. Congratulations.”
This May, thanks to the continuing efforts of South Asian Post publisher Sewak (who has hired lawyers and Indian investigators to dig into the case), Mithu walked away from jail an innocent man after being imprisoned without bail on phony charges cooked up to keep him quiet.
Thanks to questions raised by the South Asian Post surrounding the relationship between a “rape victim’s” father and one of Jassi’s uncles, the woman whose testimony sent Mithu to prison was recanted in an affidavit filed in Indian court. Within weeks, Mithu was a free man.
“If not for the tireless efforts of our publisher, Mithu would be languishing still in an Indian prison,” commented South Asian Post managing editor Michael Roberts, upon accepting the Webster. Added Roberts: “We thought we’d won by just being nominated for this award. To actually win is fantastic!”