4 women allegedly slain by own family in possible 'honour killing'

Jul 24, 2009, 17:40 GMT

Montreal - Canadian authorities on Thursday charged an Afghan immigrant, his wife and their oldest son with four counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of three Montreal sisters and an older female relative.

Zainab Shafia, 19, Sahar Shafia, 17, and Geeti Shafia, 13, all sisters, were found dead with Rona Amir Mohammed, 50, in a submerged car on June 30 in the historic Rideau Canal near Kingston, Ontario.

From the beginning, investigators were baffled how the car managed to negotiate several obstacles to end up in the canal tail first, without leaving any skid marks.

Thursday at Kingston Police headquarters, Inspector Brian Begbie said that the teenage girls' father, Mohammad Shafia, mother Tooba Mohammad Yehya and brother Hamid Mohammad Shafia, 18, have each been charged with four counts of first-degree murder and four counts of conspiracy to murder.

   Kingston Police Chief Stephen Tanner said that investigators are looking into whether the deaths were an 'honour killing.'

   'That will form a part of the ongoing investigation,' Tanner said. 'Whether that was a part of the motive within the family, based on one ... or more of the girls' behaviour, is open to a little bit of speculation.'

   He refused to comment on rumors that one of the girls was pregnant out of wedlock.

It emerged during a press conference that Rona Amir Mohammed was actually Shafia's first wife, not a cousin as she was initially described by Shafia and reported in the media. The couple had married 30 years ago in Afghanistan, and the marriage had been kept secret since their arrival in Canada.

  The family, originally from Kabul, spent 15 years in Dubai before moving two years ago to Montreal.

   Initially, Shafia had told police that the deaths occurred as the family was headed home after vacationing in Niagara Falls and had stopped for the night at a Kingston hotel.

   Shafia said the family was traveling in two cars and that he awoke to find one car missing. He reported the car missing to police, and said his oldest daughter, Zainab, was known to take the family car without permission or a licence.

   Police said their investigation proved that in fact all three accused had operated the vehicle that wound up in the canal.

   Police held a moment of silence for the victims at the beginning of the emotionally charged news conference.

   'All shared the rights within our great country to live without fear, to enjoy safety and freedom ... and yet had their lives cut short by members of their own family,' said Tanner.

Shafia and Yehya have three more children, two daughters and a son, now under the care of youth protection authorities in Montreal.

   No court date has been set yet.