Sixteen-Year-Old Girl Fights For Life

[Dragon]

Sixteen-Year-Old Girl Fights For Life After Attack In Her Own Home
Monday December 10, 2007
CityNews.ca Staff
It began ominously enough, when a man phoned police Monday morning claiming he'd just killed his daughter. By the time authorities raced to the Mississauga address on Longhorn Trail in the Eglinton and Hurontario area, they discovered there was something to the call - but not quite what the man on the line had professed.

Instead, they found a badly injured 16-year-old girl fighting for her life. What happened in that house and what sparked the violence that led to such terrible injuries? Police are being tight lipped about their investigation, but those who knew the young victim maintain they were well aware she came from a troubled home.

"She tried to move and she tried to get her stuff," reveals one school friend.

Others paint a still unconfirmed picture of a young girl who may have been acting out in a typical teenage fashion. "We noticed a drastic change in her appearance," one male classmate named Shianne remembers. "Like, she used to dress religiously. Now she's dressing in, like, more causal clothing, like other people."

How her family members took to that change may well be part of the investigation. A 57-year-old man was taken into custody not long after the phone call was placed and several family members - seven adults and three children - were led out of the home, as detectives moved in to process the scene.

"At 7:55 this morning, we received a call from a residence ... indicating that a male had just killed his daughter," reveals Peel Police Cst. J.P. Valade. "We arrived on scene and located a 16-year-old female, who was suffering from life-threatening injuries and she was transported to hospital."

Neighbours were stunned to see police swarming the area. "There are many people in that house, so I'm not sure what's going on," one relates. "It's always cars going in and out."

"To me, it looked like a normal family, like anybody else," adds another.

No names are being released because of possible family connections.

It's not the first time the neighbourhood has been in the news for all the wrong reasons. A different house on the same street was the scene of an apparent murder-suicide late last month. A 51-year-old woman was found dead in her home November 30th. Her 60-year-old husband was rushed to hospital where he died two days later.

News Site Here http://www.citynews.ca/news/news_17538.aspx

[Dragon]

Tuesday December 11, 2007
CityNews.ca Staff
There are some issues that divide our viewers but also make them think. Few have been quite as powerful as the death of Aqsa Parvez, (left) the 16-year-old who was murdered in her own home on Monday.

There are unproven allegations that her refusal to wear traditional Muslim garb may have helped lead to her death. And your reaction to those accusations have been both swift and passionate. Here's just a few of your emails to our newsroom.
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"I think that the wearing of her "native" costume is OK in the home - but to force women to wear their "native" costume outside the home is wrong. Canadian clothes do not make the person - nor does "native" costume make the person. Clothing does not make any difference - it is what was inside this young woman - her spirit that made her who she was."
Jo-Ann Knicely
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"I am a Muslim woman who wore the hijab for 12 years and chose to take it off earlier this year. I was told to wear it by my parents because it was a religious law that could not be questioned. Well, when the rest of society is telling me I'm being repressed by wearing the hijab, I'm going to question why I do so and being told that I have to is not a sufficient answer.

"After doing my own research I discovered that the Quran is open to interpretation and every woman should have the opportunity to make an informed choice. It's been almost a year and I'm still judged by the fact that I removed my hijab from family and friends and it was definitely a factor I considered before removing my hijab about what the Muslim community would think of my actions.

"I feel that the Muslim community needs to address the discrimination within its own community against woman who make that choice before addressing discrimination from outside the Muslim community."
Ayesha Khan
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"I disagree 100 per cent about this. If a Muslim woman wants to wear or not wear her head covering, she has the right to choose. This is Canada we have rules and they need to understand our rules and follow them."
Ron Oliver
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"To put the blame on western society for pressuring this girl to go against her family's faith is somewhat insulting to Canadians."
Randy Barrett
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"I am appalled that today's Canadians still have the attitude that people who immigrate to Canada should change their customs and beliefs ... I think it would be important to bring to the front that this type of control does not only happen in Muslim homes. It happens in all races and all religions, it just very unfortunate that this young girl died and now the spotlight is on the Muslim community again."
Corrine Wallace
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"We in Canada are about as relaxed and accepting as any society in the world! The blame here is not with our society, but rather with the rigidity of some other cultures, some of whom are coming here and are not becoming "Canadian" very quickly."
Dirk van der Werf
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"I think the issue is not whether Canada embraces multiculturalism across the country, but how Canadians perceive doing so. Embracing entails acceptance and open dialogue and while some may not choose to wear the hijab or identify with it, the beauty of Canada is that most Canadians welcome the difference of ethnicity and culture. Tragedies, as in the case of Aqsa Parvez, only highlight the lack of such acceptance."
Alicia
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"I came to Canada with my parents as an immigrant 30 years ago, fully aware that I will be living in a new culture that is quite different from my own. This awareness meant that we happily accepted this new reality in our adopted country and enjoyed this culture as new Canadians.

"I have always believed that when you move to another country, you have to do your best to adapt to its culture which has accepted you as immigrant - it is to show common courtesy and utmost respect to your host. Just as I expect that Canadians would do the same if they were to move to another country with a much different culture, the rule also applies to all immigrants to this country, which has always respected the rights of the individual, regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation and colour - one I have been proud of and find few parallels to in the rest of the world."
Leo Baduria
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"I work with women of Orthodox Jewish faith who also cover their hair as part of their faith. As many of these families immigrated at a time when the goal was to "fit in" and not call attention to themselves, they often wear wigs over their hair - so hair over hair. Thanks to the influence of Muslim immigration, I've noticed a number of them now wearing colourful head scarves with pride.

"In my own neighbourhood you will see a wide range of dress within the Muslim women from full Burqas to jeans and T-shirts with the hijab. A woman has the right to wear what she wants in Canada and we should be proud of that right. Wear your hijab with pride, or revel in your right to display your hair if that is your choice."
Lisa Johnstone

Site Link Here http://www.citynews.ca/news/news_17599.aspx