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I preferred the court marriage.”In Punjab, marriages are celebrated pub-

licly for weeks with pomp and splendour.It is rare that marriages are conducted

by court officials, as this is the mandatedresponsibility of religious leaders.The couple hoped that one day they

would hold a big feast for everyone and gothrough the ceremonies again.

After their secret wedding, Jassi stayedat the family home in Khosa, while her newhusband stayed on his own.

Confused at Jassi’s repeated rejectionsof potential suitors, Malkiat Kaur gave upand brought her daughter back to Canada.

Jassi’s ‘disgrace’The long-distance love affair between the

newlyweds resumed. They spoke of loveand their future in letters and phone calls.Jassi went back to work as a beautician.

She stashed the letters from Mithu in a deskat her salon.

She also began sending money to Mithu,some of which he used to buy a scooter.

But in the fall of 1999, Jassi’s secret worldcame crashing down.

Her uncle, Surjit Singh Badesha, the headof the Maple Ridge clan, found $11,000 miss-ing from the family account.

He also found money orders taken outby Jassi to one Sukwinder Singh Sidhu inKhosa.

The family also found the hidden lettersfrom Mithu she had stashed away.

Jassi’s life unravelled.She was told to quit work and confined

to the house. Her passport was taken away.The family debated what to do to minimizethe fallout from “Jassi’s disgrace.”

Indian police allege in court documentsthat it was at this point that Jassi’s uncleand mother became involved in a con-spiracy that ultimately would lead to herdeath.

In an attempt to annul the secret mar-riage, Jassi was taken to a notary publicin Maple Ridge and forced to sign a decla-ration that Mithu had compelled her tomarry him to gain access to her wealth.

Forced marriages are a criminal offencein Punjab.

The family then contacted Senior Supt.Jaskaran Singh at the Jagroan police sta-tion. They filed a formal complaint againstMithu. He was arrested.

“The police … They did bad things to myson … It was so unjust,” said a bitterSukhdev Kaur, Mithu’s mother.

Supt. Jaskaran Singh regrets that policehad to arrest Mithu.

“It looked like a clear-cut case … We reg-istered the case and investigated it,” hesaid.

Mithu was jailed and his family harassed.Desperate and frightened, Mithu man-

aged to contact Jassi in Maple Ridge, urg-ing her to set the record s traight.

On March 8, 2000, Jassi, with the helpof some friends, contacted Pankaj Shah,a notary public in Coquitlam.At his Lincoln Avenue office, Jassi signedanother affidavit, stating she was coercedinto saying the marriage was forced.

“I was threatened by my family and wasthen physically forced by them to sign theletter stating that our marriage was nulland void,” wrote Jassi.

This put a temporary halt to Mithu’s mis-ery. But Jassi’s family contacted anotherpolice officer, who then pursued Mithu.

In Maple Ridge, Jassi’s life was becomingunbearable. Indian investigators allege shewas being beaten and confined to her room.

Mithu, meanwhile, was begging for herto return. In May 2000, Jassi summoned hercourage, gathered her savings and fled tobe with her husband in India.

Jassi fights backJassi’s first call was at Jaskaran Singh’s

office.“When I met the girl, she was really very

innocent and quite bold, straightforward,and I tried to pose questions that the boyis really weak, financially he is not sostrong, he is not educated and, of course,

there is no match with the family levels,”said the police officer.“But she was really much clear-hearted

and very straightforward and she said, ‘Iwant to live with him for all my life.’ After

talking with the girl, I was really convincedthat she is innocent … the boy is innocent.

“She told me that she was beaten (inCanada) … She was really given a toughtime … She was a bold and beautiful girl.”

Jaskaran Singh had the newlyweds signan affidavit at the local magistrate’s officeand closed the file on the allegations fromJassi’s family.

“The Canadian authorities should takeaction against those who made all thesefalse declarations … The offences werecommitted in Canada,” said an angryJaskaran Singh.

Believing the worst was behind them,Jassi and Mithu led the carefree life ofyoung lovers. They travelled around Indiawhile making arrangements for Mithu to

get his Canadian papers. Jassi was a hitwith Mithu’s family and friends.In Maple Ridge, the mood was very dif-

ferent.In addition to Mithu’s poverty and lower

caste, he also carried the same last nameas Jassi’s mother. In some segments of Sikhculture, the daughter cannot marry sucha man, and Jassi’s family were strong adher-ents to this ancient tenet.

As the family fumed, a cousin of Jassi’sin the village where the newlyweds had set-tled was asked to watch the couple.

The conspiracy“She was the most beautiful girl in the

world,” reminisced the soft-spoken Mithuabout the few weeks they spent togetheras a married couple.

Riding on Mithu’s scooter, they wouldoften spend the night at Mithu’s uncle’shouse in the village of Narike, about an hourfrom Khosa.

Narike was also the stomping ground ofa notorious land-grab mafia — a bunch ofthugs well known to police for acceptingmoney to commit crimes.

Their leader was a landowner who police

A12 Sunday, June 10, 2001The Province • News

S P E C I A L R E P O R T

Jassi and Mithu photographed at the time of their marriage in a court ceremony in1999. They hoped one day to add a traditional wedding with pomp and splendour.

When the family

found Mithu’sletters, Jassi was grounded and her

passport was taken awayContinued from Page A11

Mithu fights for his life in a hospital in Ludhiana. Witnesses said they could notbelieve he survived the deep sword cuts to his head, back and hands.