Cultural Diversity and Social Customs

thenews - Two killed over Karo-Kari.

June 24, 2007 ◊ A man and a woman were gunned down and three others, including an eight-year-old girl, injured seriously by armed persons over Karo-Kari in the Bello Banglani village near Thull on Sunday.

Khamiso Banglani, along with his accomplices, allegedly gunned down his wife Zarina (25) and her alleged paramour Gahi (15), and injured two women, Jamali Khatoon, Jannat Khatoon, and an eight-year-old girl, Zahida.

The injured were shifted to a local hospital in critical condition.

Police have registered a case against five attackers identified as Khamiso Banglani, Fazil, Bahadur, Ghulam Rasool and Suhrab.

Separately, a policeman was put to death over a minor issue in Gambat late on Saturday night.

Ashiq Hussain Thebo, who was a police constable at the Gambat police station, was attacked with wooden sticks by unidentified persons, injuring him seriously. He succumbed to his injuries at a Gamat hospital. Police have arrested an accused, Sarwar Shaikh, and are investigating the matter.

anp - 24-yr-old woman shot dead.

June 25, 2007 ◊ Alkmaar Station was evacuated and shut by police on Monday morning after a shooting just after 10 am this morning. One person was killed and another seriously injured.

The reason for the shooting may have been the result of an argument in a relationship. RTV Noord-Holland reports that the male gunman tried to kill himself immediately after shooting a 24-year-old woman. He has been taken to hospital in serious condition.

Eye witnesses say the gunman and the victim exchanged words in Turkish before the shooting.

At about 10.30 am two ambulances were called and a trauma helicopter was on hand. One of the 2 had been shot in the head. Witnesses say the woman was shot as she ascended the steps to platform 5.

Limited train service to and from Alkmaar has resumed. Travellers should still expect delays.

calsun - Repentant honour-killer asks court for early release.

June 26, 2007 ◊ Triple-murderer Daljit Singh Dulay has renounced the culture of honour-killings that led him to commit his crimes and deserves a chance at early release, his lawyer argued yesterday.

Dulay, 43, who gunned down his sister Kulvinder, her husband Gary Dulay and their friend Mukesh Sharma outside a Marlborough strip mall on March 19, 1991, is seeking a Section 745 hearing -- the so-called faint-hope clause -- that would shorten his 25-year life sentence.

His lawyer, Richard Cairns, told Court of Queen's Bench his client, who has served 16 years in prison, takes full responsibility for his acts and rejects the concept of honour-killing derived from his native India.

"He's taken treatment and programs, he has come to challenge his Sikh beliefs," said Cairns.

"He willingly says he denounces his cultural violence and believes Canadian culture is much more compassionate ... the course of his length of imprisonment has affected the change."

His sister Kulvinder's marriage to her husband, who was considered a relative before their union, enraged Dulay and shamed his family.

Crown prosecutor Steve Koval argued the scope of Dulay's crimes and his lack of remorse make the likelihood of early release remote.

"At the end of the day, he has no reasonable hope -- he's a violent man," said Koval.

Justice Sandy Park is to rule on whether Dulay will get his Section 745 hearing July 30.