Jassi Still News Today

Could or could not have. >> the record showing the phone call between the family home and the cell phone belonging to the people who have confessed to that murder on the night of the murder, what does common sense tell you about that? is there any other explanation? >> there could be a variety of explanations. but again -- >> offer one. completely hypothetical. give me a possible explanation, other than the call had to do with the murder. >> again, youre asking me to make a statement on a case t...

Aunts, uncles, different generations. everyone lived here together. and in this traditional sikh family, it was expected that jassi would continue to live here until the day she got married. vijay singhera was also raised in vancouver. vijay and her sister still sing many of the sikh hymns, so important to their faith. ♪ though vijay and jassi never met, they shared the challenge of growing up in the west but living in a home tightly bound by the age-old traditions of the east. >> there were r...

Arrangement for this man that was in his 60s that was going to marry jassi. and jassi was adamant that she wouldnt marry him. >> torn between the pressure from her family to marry and the desire to lead a life of her own, jassi came up with a plan. she convinced her mother to bring her to india. in fact, to the state called the punjab, where her mom had grown up. she explained it might help her in choosing a husband. but theres something else she didnt tell her mother. so, was that just a scheme...

Investigate jassis case in india. >> translator: there are three specific injuries to her chin, her neck and her chest, which possibly caused her death. >> as one of the senior police officers in the punjab, hes seen enough murders to make an educated guess about the kind of weapon used in this one. >> translator: three injuries were caused by the traditional sikh sword, which we call the kirpan. >> reporter: in sikh culture, the sword or kirpan, is usually worn as a religious symbol. though vio...

Back in 2002. >> i went to the police station. i gave my statement. they videotaped it, apparently. thats the last i heard of it. >> perhaps canadian authorities werent proceeding quickly because of legitimate concerns about indian police procedures, including the frequent use of torture and possible contamination of evidence. indian police told us they had more than confessions. they also had indian cell phone records that seemed most incriminating. we obtained them. theyre canadian records fro...

And that puts dishonor on the parents role. >> back in canada, jassi told her friends thats exactly why she had to keep her family from finding out about her marriage to mithu. >> they would write letters to each other and secret phone calls and things. and nobody was allowed in her family couldnt find out because it was wrong. she knew it was very wrong. >> but the letters to mithu, revealed that the girl who had never had a date, let alone a boyfriend, wasnt about to give up the first man shed...

Inadmissible in indian court. so it makes sense that that same evidence could be rejected by the justice system here in canada. >> you cant use canada as a hiding ground to hire people to kill people in other countries and get away with it. >> in canada, the wheels of justice turned, oh, so slowly. in india, jassis heartbroken husband, mithu, was under guard 24 hours a day, to protect him from any other attempts at revenge. though life was difficult for mithu, he did find comfort in the knowledg...

The worst was behind them. but on the night of june 8th, 2000, they were attacked by several men on their way home from the market. mithu was left on the ground, motionless, while jassi was forced into a car and driven to a farmhouse 40 miles away. and thats where she was killed, her body dumped by the road. she had been beaten, stabbed, her throat slashed. so, you literally found out by picking up the morning newspaper? >> uh-huh. >> what went through your mind at that moment? >> no. its not tr...

Jassi spoke to her mother from the family compound. jassi begged for forgiveness. but it was too late for that. the kidnappers got their final instructions. >> translator: surgit saying, finally told the killers on the mobile phone, that the girl should be murdered and the body thrown away. because if she was allowed to stay alive, she would eventually indict the whole lot of them. >> in the end, 13 people were charged with murder. the men accused of planning and carrying out the attack against ...

Effectively cut off from the rest of the world. while her mother and uncle decided what they would do next. and what did they want her to do? >> they offered her money. they just said, divorce him, leave him, just forget about him. >> but jassi refused to give in. though she knew how strongly her family felt, somehow she convinced herself her marriage to mithu could still have a happy ending if only she could find a way to get him to canada. they were going to live happily ever after? >> they we...