Posted on 07/08/2008 6:42:37 PM PDT by TornadoAlley3
A Pakistani man accused of killing his daughter five days after she filed for divorce to end her arranged marriage wept in court Tuesday, telling a Clayton County magistrate he is innocent.
"I have done nothing wrong," Chaudhry Rashid told Chief Magistrate Daphne Walker through interpreter Younis Farhat. Farhat said Rashid speaks primarily Urdu and Punjabi.
But police say Rashid, 54, used a bungee cord to strangle Sandeela Kanwal, 25, early Sunday morning in the family's Utah Drive home in Jonesboro.
Rashid, who is being held without bond, told the judge he wanted to observe his Muslim beliefs in the Clayton jail. He wants to follow a diet that forbids the consumption of pork in any form and requires other meats are prepared according to Islamic rules.
Rashid's wife, Gina Rashid, told police the father and daughter argued over Kanwal wanting to end her arranged marriage.
Clayton Superior Court records show Kanwal filed for divorce July 1 from Majid Latif, alleging the marriage was irretrievably broken. The couple married March 14, 2002, in Gujrat, a district in the Pakistan province of Punjab. Kanwal and a brother, Hamayun Rashid, 27, bought the Utah Drive house in November 2005, and the Rashid family lived there with the married couple.
Kanwal's divorce filing states the couple separated April 15, her 25th birthday. She said they had no joint property and no children.
Kanwal alleges a family friend told her Latif returned to Chicago April 25 but that she had no idea how to find him. She also contacted Latif's father May 18 in Gujrat, the papers state, and he also said he did not know where his son was.
Five days after the divorce filing, Clayton police say Rashid killed his daughter.
Defense attorney Tammi Long was hired by the family to represent Rashid on murder charges. Long said she's known the family less than five years, having done business-related work for them. Police said Rashid runs a pizza restaurant in East Point. Rashid told Walker he is in the United States legally and possesses a green card.
Members of the Rashid family attending Tuesday's hearing declined to talk about the case. No one answered the door at the family home Monday afternoon. Efforts to reach Latif have been unsuccessful.
After Tuesday's hearing, Long raised doubts about the possible motive for Kanwal's death.
"I don't know anything about an arranged marriage," Long said. "I am not positive that is a factor in this case."
However, Long said she could not elaborate and would need time to talk to the family in depth. She also asked for privacy and declined to discuss Kanwal's funeral arrangements.
"This is a difficult time for him and his family," she said. "He is holding up the best he can. We'd just ask that the family's time and privacy be respected."
In court, Rashid made guttural noises and cried. He rocked back and forth and appeared to be talking to himself before the hearing started. Through Farhat, Rashid told Walker he was mourning the loss of his daughter.
"My daughter just died and I am not in a state of mind to ask any questions," he said.
Is there any doubt that Muhammad is the Biblical Anti Christ?
I would definitely call it premeditated, so I think he’s eligible for the death penalty. What makes me sick about it is the callousness of it. How worthless his daughter’s life is to him, and others like him.
LOL!
Folks used to tell my father about their “policies.”
Then my dad would always say, “Now, let me tell you about my policy...,” and we’d all get out of the way.
He probably did it but let's wait for the verdict.
Does he REALLY want to be treated according to his Muslim beliefs? Does he want his head cut off or his hands amputated?
Spit
Is Georgia still a death penalty state?
Georgia
Does my state have the death penalty?
Yes, Georgia has executed a total of 39 people since 1976.
What is my governor’s position on the death penalty?
Governor Sonny Perdue (R) does not have authority over the death penalty. In keeping with the state constitution, all appeals or requests for clemency are made by the Georgia Board of Pardons and Parole.
How many people are on Death Row in my state?
There are currently 107 prisoners on Death Row in Georgia. Of the 107 Death Row prisoners, 51 are black, 52 are white, 3 are Latino and 1 is Asian. Of the 107 prisoners on Death Row, 1 is a woman.
It's his lawful right to want. But neither in jail nor even outside of it nobody has any obligation to care what he wants. Humans cooperate by willingly helping each other, in case he doesn't know it. A new prisoner, a Muslim and a killer, demanding stuff ... no, I take no bets on anything in his situation. Food will be the least of his concerns, though. He will be forced to eat whatever they are giving him, and his only choice is to either eat naturally or through "medical methods." The food will not kill him; and if he worries about his soul it might be too late for that.
Actually according to this he didn't say he didn't do it, he says he didn't do anything wrong and according to islamic law he didn't, it is perfectly ok for a father to kill his daughter under sharia law.
This has been argued on many occasions in the courts and they have almost without fail found that these types of request for a religious diet fall well within the bounds of "reasonable accommodations" and are mandated with regards to allowing an inmate to "freely practice" his religion.
Thanks for the information.
If there is any justice in this world, there will be another Asian to add to the tally. At his age, there will still be enough time to execute him before he dies of natural causes, the bast**d.
He says he did nothing wrong. Wrong by a long shot. Even in Pakistan, married women are allowed to divorce. And he certainly isn’t in Pakistan any more.
I hope this savage bastard wakes up dead.
Allah and Islam need to be crushed with the same ruthlessness as the Nazis and the Japanese militarists.
Too easy. If convicted, he should wake up as his cement shoes slowly pull him choking into a vat of pig blood and entrails. He can feel the same choking sensation he shared with his daughter.
Shoot him in both knees and feed him to Wu’s pigs.
Lack of knowledge is not disproof of a fact.
That's what they all say.
I like the way you think.
This dirtbag needs to feel FEAR and PAIN, damn him!
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