A longtime Dubai businessman, wife and son are being held in custody by Canadian authorities on four counts of first-degree murder charges in the drowning deaths of three sisters and a relative in a canal.
Electronics importer and Afghan national Mohammad Shafi, 56, his wife Tooba Mohammad Yahya, 39, and 18-year-old son Hamed Mohammad Shafi are charged with first-degree murder and conspiring to commit the murders.
The trio appeared in a courtroom late last week in Kingston, Ontario – located roughly halfway between Toronto and Montreal – and are expected to enter a not-guilty plea.
In a press conference, Kingston police alleged that the deaths may have been “honour'' killings.
The charges stem from the June 30 discovery of the bodies of Shafi's teenage daughters Zainab, 19, Sahar, 17, and Geeti, 13 and Shafi's first wife Rona Amir Mohammed, 50, all of whom lived in Dubai for 15 years before immigrating to Montreal, Canada, two years ago.
A Parks Canada worker on the Rideau Canal in Eastern Ontario discovered the Shafi family car submerged June 30 in three metres of water – the unusual case raised eyebrows because of the suspicious nature of the incident.
It could take two to three weeks before a bail hearing is scheduled by the courts.
Afghan-Canadian lawyer Waice Ferdoussi has been retained to defend Shafi.
