Toronto man complained to Afghan counsellor ‘his wife had changed’ months before he slit her throat, court hears
Megan O'Toole | Oct 17, 2012 2:34 PM ET | Last Updated: Oct 17, 2012 7:48 PM ET
More from Megan O'Toole | @megan_otoole
More from Megan O'Toole | @megan_otoole
ALEX TAVSHUNSKY FOR NATIONAL POST
Peer Khairi in a Toronto court last
week. He is accused of killing his wife Randjida Khairi, by slitting her
throat, for standing up to him and letting their children live as
Westerners.
TORONTO — His wife had changed, Peer Khairi told an Afghan counsellor
in the months before he killed her. Randjida Khairi was starting to
believe she deserved equal rights.
His six children had changed, too. They did not listen to him; they were more “adaptive” to Canadian culture than he was.
In a Toronto courthouse Wednesday counsellor Neelab Subhani revealed these grim insights into Mr. Khairi’s mind, citing a meeting with the accused just months before he slit his wife’s throat.
“He said he’s not happy from his life, from being in Canada,” said Ms. Subhani, who works for the Afghan Women’s Organization, a group that helps link new immigrants with employment, housing and other services.
“It was hard for him to adapt to the new environment. [His children] were more adaptive to the school, language, everything,” Ms. Subhani testified.
Mr. Khairi also talked about his wife becoming more in step with Canadian values and determined to view herself as an equal, Ms. Subhani recalled: “Since coming to Canada, his wife had changed.”
The testimony came on the seventh day of Mr. Khairi’s second-degree murder trial in Ontario Superior Court, where the Crown has alleged he killed his wife over misguided notions of honour. Prosecutors say Mr. Khairi, 65, became furious with his children’s increasingly Westernized behaviour, and with his wife’s permissive attitude toward their drift from traditional Muslim values.
That Mr. Khairi stabbed his wife to death is an undisputed fact, but the defence will argue he did not have the necessary mindset for murder.
Just months before Ms. Khairi, 53, died on March 18, 2008, one of Ms. Subhani’s colleagues at the Afghan Women’s Organization spoke to the victim by telephone, the court heard.
Counsellor Anisa Sharifi said Ms. Khairi called her office to inquire about disability payments, before the discussion turned personal.
“[She said] she doesn’t want to be living with her husband anymore,” Ms. Sharifi testified, noting the victim asked for advice on how to “go through the process” of separation.
Ms. Sharifi offered to help, she testified, but Ms. Khairi declined to provide her phone number, saying instead that she would call back. She never did.
This was just one of a series of apparent missed opportunities for intervention in the Khairis’ troubled marriage, which was spiralling downhill in the months before the fatal incident, the court heard.
Among Ms. Khairi’s last encounters was a brief conversation with Nida Ali, a neighbour she barely knew.
Two weeks before she died at her husband’s hands, Ms. Khairi encountered Ms. Ali in the basement laundry room of their Etobicoke apartment building; it was the first time they had ever spoken, beyond brief pleasantries outside the elevator.
Ms. Ali was doing her laundry when Ms. Khairi bustled in to gather her own freshly cleaned clothes. She was in a hurry and seemed “anxious,” Ms. Ali testified.
Ms. Ali struck up a conversation with her neighbour, who quickly revealed “nothing is going well,” the court heard.
Ms. Ali recalled asking Ms. Khairi why, after all these years, she would want to leave her husband.
The victim’s response was plain, Ms. Ali testified: “She said, ‘It’s enough now.’”
Concerned about her neighbour’s wellbeing, Ms. Ali said she offered to help, inviting the clearly distraught woman to stop by her own apartment to talk more. Days passed and Ms. Khairi never came.
“Did you ever see her again?” Crown attorney Robert Kenny asked.
“No,” Ms. Ali replied.
Then, 12 days after their brief laundry-room chat, “we heard on the news that she is no more.”
The trial resumes Thursday.
His six children had changed, too. They did not listen to him; they were more “adaptive” to Canadian culture than he was.
In a Toronto courthouse Wednesday counsellor Neelab Subhani revealed these grim insights into Mr. Khairi’s mind, citing a meeting with the accused just months before he slit his wife’s throat.
“He said he’s not happy from his life, from being in Canada,” said Ms. Subhani, who works for the Afghan Women’s Organization, a group that helps link new immigrants with employment, housing and other services.
“It was hard for him to adapt to the new environment. [His children] were more adaptive to the school, language, everything,” Ms. Subhani testified.
Mr. Khairi also talked about his wife becoming more in step with Canadian values and determined to view herself as an equal, Ms. Subhani recalled: “Since coming to Canada, his wife had changed.”
The testimony came on the seventh day of Mr. Khairi’s second-degree murder trial in Ontario Superior Court, where the Crown has alleged he killed his wife over misguided notions of honour. Prosecutors say Mr. Khairi, 65, became furious with his children’s increasingly Westernized behaviour, and with his wife’s permissive attitude toward their drift from traditional Muslim values.
That Mr. Khairi stabbed his wife to death is an undisputed fact, but the defence will argue he did not have the necessary mindset for murder.
Just months before Ms. Khairi, 53, died on March 18, 2008, one of Ms. Subhani’s colleagues at the Afghan Women’s Organization spoke to the victim by telephone, the court heard.
Counsellor Anisa Sharifi said Ms. Khairi called her office to inquire about disability payments, before the discussion turned personal.
“[She said] she doesn’t want to be living with her husband anymore,” Ms. Sharifi testified, noting the victim asked for advice on how to “go through the process” of separation.
[She said], ‘My daughter is getting married in two months, and I’m having problems with my husband, and I want to get separated“[She said] he’s not nice to her and also he is insulting her [and using] bad words.”
Ms. Sharifi offered to help, she testified, but Ms. Khairi declined to provide her phone number, saying instead that she would call back. She never did.
This was just one of a series of apparent missed opportunities for intervention in the Khairis’ troubled marriage, which was spiralling downhill in the months before the fatal incident, the court heard.
Among Ms. Khairi’s last encounters was a brief conversation with Nida Ali, a neighbour she barely knew.
Two weeks before she died at her husband’s hands, Ms. Khairi encountered Ms. Ali in the basement laundry room of their Etobicoke apartment building; it was the first time they had ever spoken, beyond brief pleasantries outside the elevator.
Ms. Ali was doing her laundry when Ms. Khairi bustled in to gather her own freshly cleaned clothes. She was in a hurry and seemed “anxious,” Ms. Ali testified.
Ms. Ali struck up a conversation with her neighbour, who quickly revealed “nothing is going well,” the court heard.
[W]e heard on the news that she is no more“[She said], ‘My daughter is getting married in two months, and I’m having problems with my husband, and I want to get separated… We are having fights all the time; there is no peace in my home,’” recalled Ms. Ali, clad in glasses and a Muslim chador. “[She said], ‘I’m doing all the work and I’m on disability, and there’s no help for me.’”
Ms. Ali recalled asking Ms. Khairi why, after all these years, she would want to leave her husband.
The victim’s response was plain, Ms. Ali testified: “She said, ‘It’s enough now.’”
Concerned about her neighbour’s wellbeing, Ms. Ali said she offered to help, inviting the clearly distraught woman to stop by her own apartment to talk more. Days passed and Ms. Khairi never came.
“Did you ever see her again?” Crown attorney Robert Kenny asked.
“No,” Ms. Ali replied.
Then, 12 days after their brief laundry-room chat, “we heard on the news that she is no more.”
The trial resumes Thursday.
Labels: Crime, Culture, Human Relations, Immigration, Justice, Ontario, Sexism, Traditions
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