The murder of a young Sikh woman and three kids in a basement suite in Calgary last week remains a mystery.
Twenty-seven-year-old Harsimrat Kahlon was found dead by her boyfriend Harnek Mahal. Mahal, who was away, tried calling her. When she didn't respond, he reported the matter to police last Thursday.
When police came to the suite, they found not only the body of Kahlon but also those of three dead newborns concealed in suitcases.
It is known whether the newborns belonged to Kahlon.
All that the relatives of the woman, who was estranged from her family and staying with her boyfriend since 2005, say is that she was going to India to marry next month. Kahlon was reportedly pregnant at the time of her murder.
The family didn't know about her pregnancy, according to the woman's close friends.
Her brother Harpreet Kahlon, who last saw her in 2005, said, "She lived her own life. We literally had no contact with her.
"She did her own thing. I don't know who she hung out with, I don't know who her friends are.''
A local newspaper quoted one of her friends from India as saying: "She called me a few months back and was very happy. She strictly said to me that she is coming to India in November, will get married there and I will have to attend her wedding.
Navi Sandhu, who chatted online with Kahlon daily from India, said: "I was her Net friend but we were so close to each other. Simmi (Kahlon's nickname) was very sober, down to earth, God-fearing girl...It is just unbelievable.''
Sandhu said: "Simmi was not at all like such girl that she gets pregnant before marriage.''
Kahlon, who worked at a local law firm, had moved out of her family home four years ago. She had not seen her family since then.
Relatives of the young woman are coming from India and elsewhere for her funeral.
After Vancouver and Toronto, Calgary has the third largest concentration of the Punjabi community in Canada
Emigration is tough on all people. It has to be hell on earth on women who may not be able to speak the language and have difficulties to join the community. There are really no excuses however, as Canada has so many community organizations, particularly in Calgary, looking out for "lost people" like these. I can imagine Calgary must be very upset that something like this could have happened in their community.
There are so many support programmes in Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver for people who are newly emigrated in Canada. All one has to do is go to any of the large libraries in those cities and you will easily get into the hundreds of programmes that are very generously supported by the public as well as local Government. Yet sad stories like these are still possible of course, because if Punjabi women cannot speak English, and aren't encouraged by their family to join community programmes such as free lessons in English or forums for meeting other women, etc. they are obviously at risk for tragic happenings such as this one.
And what makes you think that this is about gender? Like I said: "Bush is a criminal" and people will answer: "yes", but if I say "Obama is a criminal", then the answer will be: "you racist!!" Just like that.
May God have this poor lady.
I think dean has it. It seems more about immigration and being the "new person in town" than anything else.
I don't have the newspaper quotes, and I probably couldn't look it up even if I wanted, but while in India, I actually did work within some cases of murder that were genuinely gender-based.
In places like Kolkatta and Delhi, things are getting more "western" every minute. But when you go to the country-side, things are very much as they were about 200 years ago. I treated women who had acid thrown on their faces for doing nothing more than arguing with a man or trying to voice an opinion. I had a few die right in my arms after being beaten and brutalized so badly that the shock killed them, for the ever so serious crime of trying to get an education or a job. Sometimes kids became casualties in these conflicts and caste-wars. The nightmares don't go away easily.
So, while I don't think the OP is entirely accurate, as far as gender-based crimes go, I do think it's an important topic. Especially with countries that are developing as fast as India.
| Ophois wrote: |
In places like Kolkatta and Delhi, things are getting more "western" every minute. But when you go to the country-side, things are very much as they were about 200 years ago. I treated women who had acid thrown on their faces for doing nothing more than arguing with a man or trying to voice an opinion. I had a few die right in my arms after being beaten and brutalized so badly that the shock killed them, for the ever so serious crime of trying to get an education or a job. Sometimes kids became casualties in these conflicts and caste-wars. The nightmares don't go away easily.
So, while I don't think the OP is entirely accurate, as far as gender-based crimes go, I do think it's an important topic. Especially with countries that are developing as fast as India. |
I totally agree with this. Although Indian society has made great progress with giving their women more power, women can still be treated like property and commodoties for negotiation. I remember a few decades ago how the caste system would sometimes result in the most tragic of circumstances, ending with murder or suicide. I have not heard that much lately about the caste system, but women still have a far way to go to be treated more than property. Think one of the contributing factors is arranged marriages. Some of it works well, particularly if parents give their children a choice, but in so many of those, women can be horribly abused and condemned to a hopeless and very unhappy existence. What is different today is that society has been educated to accept this as wrong, and many women, who are strong enough to get out of situations like these, can divorce their abusive husbands with the support of their families or communities. | deanhills wrote: |
| I totally agree with this. Although Indian society has made great progress with giving their women more power, women can still be treated like property and commodoties for negotiation. I remember a few decades ago how the caste system would sometimes result in the most tragic of circumstances, ending with murder or suicide. I have not heard that much lately about the caste system, but women still have a far way to go to be treated more than property. Think one of the contributing factors is arranged marriages. Some of it works well, particularly if parents give their children a choice, but in so many of those, women can be horribly abused and condemned to a hopeless and very unhappy existence. What is different today is that society has been educated to accept this as wrong, and many women, who are strong enough to get out of situations like these, can divorce their abusive husbands with the support of their families or communities. |
Yeah, India has a ways to go, but they are getting there pretty fast. I have a lot of hope for that country. The caste system is still in effect in rural areas, and strangely, I noticed that quite a large number of wealthy people still embrace the caste system. Probably because it benefits them to do so. Arranged marriages are still going on, and mostly it's not that bad, but I did hear about girls committing suicide over it. That too will go away soon, I think. | Ophois wrote: |
| deanhills wrote: | | I totally agree with this. Although Indian society has made great progress with giving their women more power, women can still be treated like property and commodoties for negotiation. I remember a few decades ago how the caste system would sometimes result in the most tragic of circumstances, ending with murder or suicide. I have not heard that much lately about the caste system, but women still have a far way to go to be treated more than property. Think one of the contributing factors is arranged marriages. Some of it works well, particularly if parents give their children a choice, but in so many of those, women can be horribly abused and condemned to a hopeless and very unhappy existence. What is different today is that society has been educated to accept this as wrong, and many women, who are strong enough to get out of situations like these, can divorce their abusive husbands with the support of their families or communities. |
Yeah, India has a ways to go, but they are getting there pretty fast. I have a lot of hope for that country. The caste system is still in effect in rural areas, and strangely, I noticed that quite a large number of wealthy people still embrace the caste system. Probably because it benefits them to do so. Arranged marriages are still going on, and mostly it's not that bad, but I did hear about girls committing suicide over it. That too will go away soon, I think. |
On a side note I wonder how much the rise of "Bollywood" must have influenced society in opening up a great number of social issues. Some of the actresses have come across as serious business women with great strength of character, and that must have had an effect on society, young women who would like to emulate these women. Divorce is perhaps much more possible than before, and the movies show how wrong abuse of women really is. | deanhills wrote: |
| On a side note I wonder how much the rise of "Bollywood" must have influenced society in opening up a great number of social issues. |
Probably quite a lot, I imagine. | Quote: |
| Some of the actresses have come across as serious business women with great strength of character, and that must have had an effect on society, young women who would like to emulate these women. Divorce is perhaps much more possible than before, and the movies show how wrong abuse of women really is. |
Let's just hope they hang on to that good character, and don't become too "westernized" and end up promoting the crap image that Hollywood promotes. | Quote: |
| But as you said, the caste system is still very much alive. What I do like about those movies however is the strong self-esteem of its people, in comparison with years ago. Indians are proud to be Indian. For example in Bangalore, Indians are convinced that their "silicon valley" is far more productive and creative than in the United States. |
I would not be the least bit surprised. India produces about 300,000 employable engineers each year(roughly twice that many actually graduate from engineering schools), as opposed to the roughly 110,000 or so engineers the US produces annually. I would not doubt the higher productivity of Bangalore's silicon valley at all.
