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Mithu and Jassi in a

picture after their

1999 marriage
In a few weeks, six years would have passed since the mutilated body of Maple Ridge beautician Jaswinder Kaur Sidhu was found in a ditch in Punjab, India.


Six years will also have passed with no action being taken against the alleged masterminds of the horrific crime – Jassi’s uncle and mother – who continue with the family’s lucrative blueberry business in British Columbia.


Jassi, as millions around the world know, was killed because she married a poor man against the wishes of her family.


The calculated retaliation for dishonoring the family was swift. Hired assassins kidnapped the 25-year-old after attacking her husband and leaving him for dead.


They then tortured her and according to Indian police slit her throat based on orders given via cell phone from Canada.


All this happened on June 8, 2000. Since then Jassi’s story has been retold through three documentaries and a made-for-TV movie. Hundreds of people from around the world have written to The Asian Pacific Post website – www.justiceforjassi.com – to express their frustration at the lack of justice.


Last October in Punjab, seven men allegedly hired by Jassi’s wealthy Maple Ridge family were found guilty and sentenced to life in jail.


Indian police alleged in court that the contract killers were allegedly paid about C$50,000 by Sidhu’s mother, Malkiat Kaur and uncle, Surjit Singh Badesha, a millionaire blueberry farmer in Maple Ridge, B.C.


The family has denied the allegations.


For six years now all the RCMP will say is that their investigation into the mother and uncle "is ongoing."


Behind the scenes, the Mounties have travelled to India to look into the case.


Just what is keeping them from either charging or clearing the name of the alleged masterminds is baffling.


Indian cops who were instrumental in breaking the case wide open within days of the murder have told The Asian Pacific Post they are willing to come to Canada to testify.


Some of those convicted last October have given sworn testimonies in Indian courts about the people who hired them.


There is a wealth of accompanying evidence in letters that Jassi wrote to her husband and in official documents about her fears.


But for some reason, the RCMP seemed paralyzed in this case.


In the time being, Jassi’s husband has been threatened, shot at and thrown in jail after he recovered from nearly being killed in June 8, 2000.


As the RCMP drag their feet, a key witness in the case, who was close to the couple and acted as their intermediary has been killed in a traffic accident.


The Jassi case is not the only one that has given rise to a perception the RCMP is ineffective when it comes to crimes in foreign lands involving Canadians.


On August 23, 2003, Dr Asha Goel, an obstetrician and gynaecologist of 40 years who has delivered more than 10,000 babies in Canada was found murdered in Mumbai.


Dr. Goel, 62, was chief obstetrician at the Headwaters Health Centre in Orangeville, Ontario.


Her murder came in the midst of a bitter dispute over a $5 million family inheritance.


Indian police have laid charges against Dr. Goel’s brother, an Ottawa businessman in connection with the murder while a family run website has triggered more than 13,000 petitions from across the world urging the Canadian government to help solve the case.


As expected the RCMP will only say the investigation is on-going.


Be it suspects or victims, the RCMP’s track record when it comes to dealing with crimes like these - and there are many other cases – is poor.


If the Mounties want a taste of the public’s mood in Jassi’s case, they should visit www.justiceforjassi.com


Here the perception of them being ineffective has become a reality.

 

The Asian Pacific Post

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