Sandeela Kanwal was a Pakistani woman living in the

Atlanta metropolitan area Metro Atlanta, designated by the United States Office of Management and Budget as the Atlanta–Sandy Springs–Alpharetta, GA Metropolitan Statistical Area, is the most populous metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. state of Georgia and the ...

Clayton County, Georgia Clayton County is located in the north central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of 2021, the population was estimated to be 297,100 by the Census Bureau. The county seat is Jonesboro. Clayton County is included in the Atlanta metr ...

, who was murdered by her father Chaudhry Rashid in an

honor killing An honor killing (American English), honour killing (Commonwealth English), or shame killing is the murder of an individual, either an outsider or a member of a family, by someone seeking to protect what they see as the dignity and honor of t ...

, on July6, 2008.

Background

Kanwal, aged 25, worked at a

Wal-Mart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...

, while her father, Chaudhry Rashid, born in a village in Pakistan, aged 54 and holding United States permanent residency, ran a pizza restaurant in

East Point, Georgia East Point is a suburban city located southwest of Atlanta in Fulton County, Georgia, Fulton County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 38,358. The city name ...

. - Utah Drive is outside of the Jonesboro city limits. At the time Rashid was married to a woman who was not Kanwal's mother. Rashid's main languages were Punjabi and

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

Jonesboro, with their respective spouses and family members. Kanwal had wed her husband in Gujrat,

Punjab, Pakistan Punjab (; , ) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in central-eastern region of the country, Punjab is the second-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the largest province by population. It shares land borders with the ...

on March 14, 2002. In November 2005, Kanwal and her brother purchased the Clayton County house. Circa April 2008, Kanwal and her husband held a marriage ceremony in Pakistan, but the two moved to different cities in the U.S. after her wedding, with the husband moving to

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. She resided with her father and did not see her husband after arriving in the U.S. On April 15, they separated, and she filed for divorce on July 1. In addition to the divorce, she sought to have a new romantic relationship, something her father disliked. A police report stated that from circa May until Kanwal's death, the father and daughter did not communicate with one another. The evening of her death, while the father was driving his daughter back to the house from a late shift at the Wal-Mart, the two had an argument.

Crime and punishment

In the early hours of July 6, 2008, Kanwal's father strangled her with a

bungee cord Bungee cords equipped with metal hooks A bungee cord (sometimes spelled bungle; also known as a shock cord) is an elastic cord composed of one or more elastic strands forming a core, usually covered in a woven cotton or polypropylene sheath. The ...

. Her body was left in a bedroom on the house's second floor. Rashid burned the bungee cord and flushed the ashes down the toilet, leaving authorities without a murder weapon. The killer's wife called police after leaving the house because she heard screaming in a language incomprehensible to her. Rashid experienced a

seizure An epileptic seizure, informally known as a seizure, is a period of symptoms due to abnormally excessive or synchronous neuronal activity in the brain. Outward effects vary from uncontrolled shaking movements involving much of the body with los ...

upon his arrest and was jailed after being hospitalized briefly. The

arrest warrant An arrest warrant is a warrant issued by a judge or magistrate on behalf of the state, which authorizes the arrest and detention of an individual, or the search and seizure of an individual's property. Canada Arrest warrants are issued by a j ...

stated that the father said that the divorce caused the family to lose honor. Due to Rashid's lack of English fluency, he had a court-appointed translator. He expressed a desire to follow

Islamic dietary laws Islamic dietary laws are dietary laws that Muslims follow. Islamic jurisprudence specifies which foods are '' '' (, "lawful") and which are '' '' (, "unlawful"). The dietary laws are found in the Quran, the holy book of Islam, as well as in coll ...

while in the county jail. In the trial Rashid's legal team admitted that he committed homicide, but stated that he had no plans to do so and was only spurred by momentary anger. Rashid's lawyers argued that it was not an honor killing. Rashid was convicted of felony and malice murder and aggravated assault in May 2011, a decision that took jurors four hours. He got a

life imprisonment Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes for ...

sentence with

parole Parole (also known as provisional release or supervised release) is a form of early release of a prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by certain behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated parole officers, or ...

eligibility. Rashid appealed his conviction on the basis that it was wrong for jurors to review footage of his interviews held at a police station. In 2013 the Georgia Supreme Court upheld Rashid's conviction.

References

External links

Police Report
!--Linked from CNN article: http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/07/08/honor.killing/ --> {{DEFAULTSORT:Kanwal, Sandeela Clayton County, Georgia Honor killing in the United States People from Georgia (U.S. state) Honor killing victims Murder in Georgia (U.S. state) July 2008 events in the United States 2008 crimes in the United States 2008 murders in the United States People murdered in Georgia (U.S. state) 2008 deaths American people of Pakistani descent Deaths by strangulation in the United States Filicides in Georgia (U.S. state) American Muslims Incidents of violence against women

Background

Crime and punishment

See also

References

Further reading

External links