Jaswinder Kaur "Jassi" Sidhu (August 4, 1975 – June 8, 2000) was an Indo-Canadian beautician who was murdered in an honor killing near the villages of Kaunke and Khosa area of Ludhiana, Punjab, after traveling from British Columbia, Canada. She was kidnapped, tortured, and killed on orders of her mother, Malkiat Kaur Sidhu, and uncle, Surjit Singh Badesha, as punishment for her secret marriage. Background Jaswinder "Jassi" Kaur was born and raised in Maple Ridge, British Columbia. Her wealthy family was headed by her uncle, Surjit Singh Badesha, in the Fraser Valley, after migrating from Punjab, India. On a visit to the city of Jagraon in the Punjab state of India in December 1994, Jassi met and fell in love with Sukhwinder Singh Sidhu (nicknamed "Mithoo"), a rickshaw driver. They kept in touch over the next four years. In 1999, Jassi made another trip to India with her family, the purpose of which was arranging a marriage for her. Sukhwinder claimed that he used to bring sleeping pills, and Jassi's sympathetic aunt would mix them with the food at dinnertime and make sure everybody was fast asleep. Sukhwinder would jump over the wall and enter into the house after 11 p.m. and meet Jassi in her room. Jassi and Sukhwinder married secretly on March 15, 1999 in a gurdwara. She did not reveal her marriage to her family, although she continued to write to Sukhwinder and send him money. A year later, her family discovered the marriage through relatives in India. They strongly disapproved of this marriage because the husband was from Jassi's mother's village and belonged to the same Sidhu clan. Traditionally, such alliances among people of the same clan are forbidden. They attempted to persuade her to get a divorce by first offering to buy her a car and material possessions, and then by beating her. After those attempts failed, her family pressured her into signing documentation, falsely telling her that it was legal paperwork which would help Sukhwinder come to Canada. Instead, the document contained criminal accusations against Sukhwinder. When Jassi discovered this, she contacted Indian officials, stating that the accusations were false and she was coerced into signing them. After this, her family forcefully took her back to Canada, where she was held under confinement in the family home. Kidnapping and murder Jassi escaped from family confinement with the help of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police,