Guide Note

Pakistani immigrant Chaudry Rashad allegedly strangled his daughter, Sandela Kanwal, over her desire to end her arranged marriage. Police arrested Rashad from his home in Jonesboro, Georgia, at 3 a.m. on July 6, 2008. The victim's husband was reported to reside in Chicago—she had not seen him for three months.^{1 2}

Fast Facts

1. 57-years-old¹
2. Immigrated from Pakistan 6 years before
3. Reportedly did not speak fluent English upon arrest³
4. Charged with murder
5. Location: Jonesboro, an Atlanta suburb
6. Sandeela Kanwal died by strangulation with an iron cord⁴
7. According to a 2000 U.N. Population Fund study, an estimated 5,000 females fall victim to "honor killings" each year⁴

The 911 call that alerted the police was made by Gina Rashid the mother of the victim and wife of Chaudry Rashad. According to the police report, she said her daughter may have been dead.²

The murder of Sandela Kanwal was an apparent honor killing—a phenomenon in which the breeching of cultural taboos, such as premarital sex and divorce, is met with deadly violence. The crime is often reported in cultures from South Asia and the Middle East.⁵