Forbidden love

Inspector Sarwan Singh was the lead detective assigned to investigate the brutal attack of Jassi and her husband Mithu. One of the senior police officers in the Punjab, he’s seen enough murders to make an educated guess about the kind of weapon used in this one.

Inspector Sarwan Singh: Three injuries were caused by the traditional Sikh sword which we refer to as the Kirpan.

In Sikh culture, the sword—or kirpan—is usually worn as a religious symbol. Though violence is frowned upon in this faith, the kirpan has historically been the weapon used to defend it and the moral values it stands for.

Inspector Singh took us to the property room where weapons and other evidence are stored.

Among the items they recovered from the crime scene, according to the inspector, was the sword which was used to kill Jassi.

Though he now had the sword that used in the attack, in order to track down the killers and build a case against them, he would first need to uncover their motive.

Inspector Sarwan Singh: I discovered that a case had already been filed against Mithu alleging that Mithu had forced Jassi into a marriage. That’s when we discovered their love affair and the secret marriage.

And that’s when he also discovered the notarized statement that Jassi submitted as proof her uncle had lied to Indian authorities about her marriage to Mithu.

That provided Inspector Singh with solid evidence that their lives had previously been threatened by Jassi’s uncle Sugit and focused his search on her extended family in India.

Inspector Sarwan Singh: After sustained questioning, [one of the relatives in India] gave us the names of the killers and the kidnappers that he had hired and that’s how we got to the others.

Inspector Singh told us that during questioning the conspirators admitted they’d been promised $50,000 by Jassi’s uncle and mother—a fortune in the Punjab—to kill Mithu and kidnap Jassi.

But for Inspector Singh, it was what happened inside the farmhouse on the night of June 8^th that was the final piece of the puzzle.

Killer's confessions
He says that according to the confessions he extracted, Jassi was dragged up to a room where she was put on a cellular phone.

For five years she’d been caught between two worlds, that night they collided. Ancient tradition and modern values; family honor and romantic love; and now the sword and the cellphone...

At the other end of the line, in Canada, was her uncle Surgit.

Inspector Sarwan Singh: And he told the girl, “Look, we have been trying to tell you that, you have to leave this boy and you have to come back to Canada. And you have not listened and now you will bear the consequences.”

Then, the inspector says, 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 from her uncle.

Inspector Sarwan Singh: Surjit Singh 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 Jassi and Mithu in India, and Jassi’s mother and her uncle in Canada, who allegedly paid them to do it.

Indian police told us most confessed during questioning, though all subsequently pleaded not guilty.

But Inspector Singh was convinced of their complicity because of evidence.

Inspector Sarwan Singh: We recovered two mobile phones from the accused and have been able to establish all the pattern of calls to the residential telephones of Jassi’s family, calls made from these telephones to Canada.

Inspector Singh showed us records of the calls made from the kidnapper’s cell phones in India. Among them, calls placed on the same date and at the approximate time that Jassi was murdered to the telephone that Indian police confirmed is located at the home of Jassi’s uncle Surgit. It was more evidence her family in Canada was instrumental in her death.

McKeown: Will you tell them we’re from American television? We’d like to know about the involvement of Jassi’s family in Canada.

When we first reported this story four years ago, all of those charged with Jassi’s murder in india were in custody. We caught up with them as they arrived for a hearing.

Back then, police in India were confident those believed to be involved in Canada would also be brought to justice, and with good reason it seemed: Under Canadian law, conspiring to have someone murdered, wherever the killing takes place, is viewed as the same as committing the murder.

Which is why Inspector Singh expected that Jassi’s uncle and mother would soon be arrested by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

Tamara, friend: They didn’t even, they didn’t care.

In fact, after Jassi was killed some of her friends told us they went to the police to tell them about threats made by Jassi’s uncle and mother. They insist, the RCMP asked only a very few, general questions and that was it.

Tamara: Like I’m thinking they’re gonna question me and y’know, maybe sit down with me, and find out my details. Nothing, not even a “pfft.” I was in and out of there in two minutes.

It seems that despite that evidence in India pointing to a conspiracy to commit murder, back in Canada, the call for justice was going unanswered.

When we first visited RCMP headquarters in Vancouver in 2002, the Mounties refused to discuss the Indian evidence or to tell us if they were even looking into the case.

RCMP spokesman Grant Learned: We would never confirm or deny any investigations that we could or could not have.

McKeown: The record showing that phone call between the family home and the cell phone belonging to the people who’ve confessed to that murder, on the night of the murder; what does commonsense tell you about that, is there any other explanation?

Sgt. Learned: There could be a variety of explanations but again…

McKeown: Offer, offer one.

Sgt. Learned: But that’s a hypothetical.

McKeown: Completely hypothetically, give me a possible explanation other than the call had to do with the murder.

Sgt. Learned: But again you are asking me to make a statement on a case, that’s  before the courts in another country, be absolutely irresponsible of me to do so.

When we first reported this story we found Jassi’s mother still going about her daily routine.

McKeown, trying to talk to Jassi’s mother: I’d very much like to talk to you about the murder of your daughter. Mr. Badesha,  could we ask you some questions about Jassi’s murder?

And Jassi’s uncle Surgit, was also a free man.

Despite repeated requests for an interview, neither Jassi’s mother nor her uncle would talk about the circumstances of her death.

McKeown, trying to talk to Jassi’s uncle Surgit:  The Indian government has told us they have irrefutable proof that you planned and paid for the murder of Jassi. How do you answer that?

So why hadn’t Canadian authorities taken any action against Jassi’s family in Canada? From the perspective of Inspector Singh, there was ample proof against them, in particular the numerous confessions obtained by the police.

Inspector Singh: To my mind this is at least a whole lot of evidence that no police, or no authority anywhere in the world can really deny or dismiss as false or questionable.

But that’s exactly what Canadian authorities were doing. Questioning those confessions because of how Indian police may have elicited them.

Sgt. Learned: There would have to be a complete outline of how such confessions were obtained under what conditions, etcetera. They may not meet the test of Canadian jurisprudence.

It is no secret that Indian police interrogation often includes the use of physical force. In fact, it’s so prevalent that confessions obtained during police questions are inadmissible as evidence in Indian courts. So it makes sense that evidence likely would not be accepted in the Canadian justice system. But what infuriated Jassi’s friends, was that Canadian authorities seemed to be doing nothing to build a case of their own.

McKeown: In the past two years, since her murder, have the police asked to speak to you? 

Belinda, Jassi's friend: No…

McKeown: Have even called to ask what...

Belinda: You’re the first person that’s actually talked to us in detail about this.

McKeown: No one has come to you asking what she felt, what she though, what she feared?

Nicole: No.

Devos: You can’t use Canada as a hiding ground to hire people to kill people in other countries and get away with it.

And that’s where we left this story: in Canada, the wheels of justice turning oh so slowly. In India, Jassi’s heartbroken husband, Mithu, under guard 24-hours-a-day to stave off any other attempts at revenge against him. 

Though life was difficult for Mithu, he did find comfort in the knowledge that the men charged with killing Jassi were awaiting trial behind bars.

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