Archived_Member16
SPNer
Slain Surrey mom third to be targeted
Woman's slaying was the third time in two weeks that a local Indo-Canadian woman was targeted for death.
Kim BolanVancouver Sun
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
CREDIT: The Vancouver Sun, Handout photoNavreet WaraichSlain
Surrey mom Navreet Kaur Waraich had been calling her family in India every week to tell them she was being mistreated here in Canada.
But they were devastated to get the news Monday that the 27-year-old had been stabbed to death in the Newton basement suite she shared with her husband and four-month-old baby.
Waraich's slaying was the third time in two weeks that an Indo-Canadian woman on the Lower Mainland was targeted for death.
Pregnant Surrey teacher Manjit Panghali was murdered and her body burned beside a Delta road last week. Police are still investigating and refuse to say if there is a suspect in the killing.
And on Oct. 19, Port Coquitlam resident Gurjeet Kaur Ghuman, 40, was shot in the face by her estranged husband Paramjit Singh Ghuman, who then fatally shot himself. She is in critical condition.
The three incidents have alarmed community leaders, who say more needs to be done to deal with violence against women.
An emergency forum on the problem will be held by Radio India Thursday at 7 p.m. at the Surrey's Bombay Banquet Hall.
Attorney-General Wally Oppal is also extremely concerned about the recent violence in his community.
"This is a horrible social problem and criminal problem that our community has done nothing about," Oppal said. "We have simply closed our eyes. It has horrible origins. It is the systemic demeaning of women."
Waraich's distraught father, Dilbag Singh Gill, said in an interview from Amritsar, India, that he wants to come to Canada to deal with his daughter's funeral and care for her infant son.
"Every night she was being beaten there," Gill said.
He said his daughter, who had moved to B.C. two years ago after her marriage, did not want to go to police out of fear she would cause trouble for her in-laws.
"My daughter said to me 'I am a very fine wife. Why is this happening?' "
Waraich's husband Jatinder, a Richmond cab driver, was arrested and was to appear in Surrey provincial court Monday.
Her younger brother Manjit Singh said the family in India really wants to get custody of her baby now.
"We need her son because he is the only thing we have left of her," he said from India. "I loved my sister so much. What can we now do without her?"
Surrey RCMP Cpl. Roger Morrow said police were called to Waraich's rented home in the 7000-block of 123 B Street about 3:30 p.m. Sunday. The RCMP said the case is one of domestic violence and that the victim succumbed to multiple stab wounds.
Oppal said some within the Indo-Canadian community are so concerned about public reputation that they don't want to get help when there is a problem.
"Let's just solve it within the house. Let's not get anyone else involved," Oppal said, describing a common attitude. "Our temples have to get involved in this."
Radio India owner Maninder Singh Gill organized this week's forum after dozens of young women called his station in recent weeks claiming they are being abused in their homes but have nowhere to turn for help.
"We will invite Sikh, Hindu and Muslim leaders," Gill said. "We have got to do something."
Gill has put up a $50,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in the high-profile Panghali murder.
Activist Raminder Dosanjh, a founder of the India Mahila Association, said the three cases demand a community response.
"There is violence in every community, but to have three cases in two weeks' time of women being murdered or attempted murder, we have to do something very fast," said Dosanjh.
"All three of these women have children. We can't sit back and do nothing." Dosanjh said the police and the courts have to do more to solve the cases and send a strong message that violence against women will not be tolerated. She noted that in the high-profile murder of Canadian Jassy Sidhu in India, RCMP here have done little to investigate the roots of the plot to kill the young Maple Ridge hairdresser, who married in Punjab against her B.C. family's wishes.
Narinder Rihal, who works at the Surrey Womens' Centre said women in all cultures experience violence. But she said there are unique problems for immigrant women, who may not know how to access services or feel compelled not to report violence to the police.
And in the Indo-Canadian community women are "raised not to reach outside the culture for help," Rihal said.
"So they try to resolve these problems within the family," she said.
The Surrey Womens' Centre deals with about 2,000 women a year from all cultures.
Rihal said she thinks there should be outreach workers to get the message out that help is available.
"The first thing we need to do is educate the women," Rihal said.
kbolan@png.canwest.com
----------------------------------------
----------------------------------------
----------------------------------------
----------------------------------------
----------------------------------------
----------------------------------------
Woman's slaying was the third time in two weeks that a local Indo-Canadian woman was targeted for death.
Kim BolanVancouver Sun
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Surrey mom Navreet Kaur Waraich had been calling her family in India every week to tell them she was being mistreated here in Canada.
But they were devastated to get the news Monday that the 27-year-old had been stabbed to death in the Newton basement suite she shared with her husband and four-month-old baby.
Waraich's slaying was the third time in two weeks that an Indo-Canadian woman on the Lower Mainland was targeted for death.
Pregnant Surrey teacher Manjit Panghali was murdered and her body burned beside a Delta road last week. Police are still investigating and refuse to say if there is a suspect in the killing.
And on Oct. 19, Port Coquitlam resident Gurjeet Kaur Ghuman, 40, was shot in the face by her estranged husband Paramjit Singh Ghuman, who then fatally shot himself. She is in critical condition.
The three incidents have alarmed community leaders, who say more needs to be done to deal with violence against women.
An emergency forum on the problem will be held by Radio India Thursday at 7 p.m. at the Surrey's Bombay Banquet Hall.
Attorney-General Wally Oppal is also extremely concerned about the recent violence in his community.
"This is a horrible social problem and criminal problem that our community has done nothing about," Oppal said. "We have simply closed our eyes. It has horrible origins. It is the systemic demeaning of women."
Waraich's distraught father, Dilbag Singh Gill, said in an interview from Amritsar, India, that he wants to come to Canada to deal with his daughter's funeral and care for her infant son.
"Every night she was being beaten there," Gill said.
He said his daughter, who had moved to B.C. two years ago after her marriage, did not want to go to police out of fear she would cause trouble for her in-laws.
"My daughter said to me 'I am a very fine wife. Why is this happening?' "
Waraich's husband Jatinder, a Richmond cab driver, was arrested and was to appear in Surrey provincial court Monday.
Her younger brother Manjit Singh said the family in India really wants to get custody of her baby now.
"We need her son because he is the only thing we have left of her," he said from India. "I loved my sister so much. What can we now do without her?"
Surrey RCMP Cpl. Roger Morrow said police were called to Waraich's rented home in the 7000-block of 123 B Street about 3:30 p.m. Sunday. The RCMP said the case is one of domestic violence and that the victim succumbed to multiple stab wounds.
Oppal said some within the Indo-Canadian community are so concerned about public reputation that they don't want to get help when there is a problem.
"Let's just solve it within the house. Let's not get anyone else involved," Oppal said, describing a common attitude. "Our temples have to get involved in this."
Radio India owner Maninder Singh Gill organized this week's forum after dozens of young women called his station in recent weeks claiming they are being abused in their homes but have nowhere to turn for help.
"We will invite Sikh, Hindu and Muslim leaders," Gill said. "We have got to do something."
Gill has put up a $50,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in the high-profile Panghali murder.
Activist Raminder Dosanjh, a founder of the India Mahila Association, said the three cases demand a community response.
"There is violence in every community, but to have three cases in two weeks' time of women being murdered or attempted murder, we have to do something very fast," said Dosanjh.
"All three of these women have children. We can't sit back and do nothing." Dosanjh said the police and the courts have to do more to solve the cases and send a strong message that violence against women will not be tolerated. She noted that in the high-profile murder of Canadian Jassy Sidhu in India, RCMP here have done little to investigate the roots of the plot to kill the young Maple Ridge hairdresser, who married in Punjab against her B.C. family's wishes.
Narinder Rihal, who works at the Surrey Womens' Centre said women in all cultures experience violence. But she said there are unique problems for immigrant women, who may not know how to access services or feel compelled not to report violence to the police.
And in the Indo-Canadian community women are "raised not to reach outside the culture for help," Rihal said.
"So they try to resolve these problems within the family," she said.
The Surrey Womens' Centre deals with about 2,000 women a year from all cultures.
Rihal said she thinks there should be outreach workers to get the message out that help is available.
"The first thing we need to do is educate the women," Rihal said.
kbolan@png.canwest.com
© The Vancouver Sun 2006
----------------------------------------
----------------------------------------
----------------------------------------
----------------------------------------
----------------------------------------
----------------------------------------
