Upon sitting in the witness box, metres away from her son who stands accused of killing her daughter and daughter’s fiance, Nasima Fayez started to cry.
Overcome by emotion, she covered her face with her hands and tissue, before composing herself and testifying about a broken home, allegedly abusive husband, Afghan roots and the relationship between her son, Hasibullah Sadiqi, and daughter, Khatera Sadiqi.
The court has heard that Hasibullah Sadiqi shot his 20-year-old sister and Mangal with a .44 Magnum revolver while they sat in a parked car at the Elmvale Acres shopping plaza, at St. Laurent Boulevard and Smyth Road, just before 1 a.m. on Sept. 19, 2006. Sadiqi, 23, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder.
The Crown contends there will be evidence that the slaying was an honour killing rooted in anger over their engagement, while Sadiqi’s defence lawyers do not deny that Sadiqi is responsible for the deaths, but are expected to advance the argument of provocation, which could reduce a murder charge to manslaughter if certain conditions are met.
Fayez said she and her former husband, both from Afghanistan, came to Canada in the 1980s with Hasibullah, who was five months old. They settled in Ottawa and had two other children, both daughters.
Fayez said her former husband was very traditional, and tried to get her to be the same way and have their children brought up in a traditional manner.
“I was more open-minded,” Fayez said. She claimed her husband was abusive to her and their two daughters and son, and eventually she divorced him and moved to the Vancouver area in 1999.
The children stayed with their father after some court proceedings, she said.
It was not until six years later, on Aug. 20, 2005, that Fayez saw her daughters at the Vancouver airport, she said.
“The abuse was getting worse for my daughters in the house” and Khatera had tracked her down through other relatives, Fayez said.
Fayez said she sent tickets to her children to have them move to be with her, but Hasibullah stayed behind, citing work and then college, she said.
Fayez said she called Hasibullah after his sister had left, and he would become angry when she told her that his father treated her badly.
“Don’t talk to me about my dad like that,” she recalled him saying. Fayez said she reminded her son of his father’s alleged abuse, including one alleged incident in which she said Hasibullah stopped him from harming her.
During one phone conversation, Hasibullah told her his sisters needed to see their father and said he would go and bring them back, Fayez said.
Upon learning of her daughter’s love for Mangal -- and that the pair hoped to marry -- Fayez said she thought they were young but knew they were in love and wanted to support them. She said she tried to help them get engaged traditionally.
Although Khatera wanted her brother involved, she wanted nothing to do with her father, Fayez said.
During a phone conversation on a speakerphone, Khatera told her brother of her plans to get married, Fayez said. He asked her if she was ready and said he had thought something was going on -- all in a joking manner, Fayez said.
Hasibullah also asked for a week to “check out” Khatera’s boyfriend, Fayez said.
Khatera went back to Ottawa the same day -- likely in late January or early February -- but didn’t tell her brother she was back, Fayez said.
Later, she lived with Mangal and his family, Fayez said.
Fayez said Khatera delayed the wedding as she hoped to improve her relationship with her brother, who was upset that she had returned to Ottawa without telling him. Fayez told the court she had heard rumours that he had a gun.
Khatera was eventually happy to have spoken to her brother, Fayez said.
While living with their father during childhood, Hasibullah had protected Khatera from her father, at times paying for bills and groceries when their father wasn’t around, Fayez said.
“That sort of explains why Khatera wanted to delay the wedding for Hasib,” suggested defence lawyer Lorne Goldstein during his cross-examination.
The court took another break as Fayez began to cry. As she left the court following her testimony, Fayez looked over to her son, whose eyes were trained down as he sat, feet shackled, in the prisoner’s box. The trial continues.