Imprisoned killer Daljit Singh Dulay (inset), who gunned down his sister, her husband and another man 22 years ago in the name of family honour, is viewed as a “hero” by some members of his Sikh community, a Parole Board of Canada document reveals (read it in full after jump). Concern that family and community members still condone Dulay’s actions and strongly endorse the concept of honour killings was cited by the board in a decision last month to deny him unescorted passes or day parole, though Dulay has been out of prison previously on escorted passes.
Victims murdered by Daljit Singh Dulay in 1991 in Calgary, (from left) Gurdawr Singh Dulay, Kulwinder Dulay, Mukesh Kumar Sharma
He is serving life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years. He was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder and one count of second-degree murder in the 1991 honour killings in Calgary, Alberta of his sister Kulwinder Dulay, 20, her husband Gurdawr Singh Dulay, 28, and, Mukesh Kumar Sharma, 28. Sharma was a close friend of the couple and their employer. The six-page written record of Dulay’s parole hearing on April 24, 2013 is the most detailed expose to date of the chilling motive that drove him to murder. It documents the widespread conspiracy and encouragement of family and community in the murders and a plot to aid Dulay’s escape from justice. The revelations contradict the protestations of other honour killers in Canada and the defence arguments that they have presented during trials in an attempt to convince judges and juries that honour killings are not a growing threat in Canada fueled by widely-held traditional beliefs.
According to a 2006 psychological risk assessment, your understanding of the index offences remained shallow. You admitted that your actions were wrong but also noted that the murders maintained the status of your family in their community.
- excerpt from April 2013 parole decision
Dulay’s family lived in Vancouver when his sister moved to Calgary. The strict Sikh family grew up in an area of India where long-held cultural traditions about the honour of families were drilled into him. Dulay’s sister had eloped with a man who had grown up in the same village, an act that the Dulay family considered shameful and one that they believed required her death to restore the family’s honour in the eyes of the wider community.
You noted that, after negotiations with your sister and elder members of the family failed, you understood your family to ask you to do “whatever it takes” to maintain family honour. You confirmed with the board that the beliefs associated with honour killing motivated you to commit three murders, and that these beliefs could be considered risk factors in your case. With persistent questions, you noted that honour killings may be conducted for reasons other than a forbiden intimate relationship. However, until it was raised by the board, you did not mention honour killings involved concepts such as domination and control of women.
Dulay hired a private investigator who tracked his sister to Calgary. Dulay followed her there. He bought an AK-47 assault rifle and a car. He stalked the couple to a video store where they worked and when they emerged and began to drive away, he rammed their vehicle and sprayed them with bullets. Mukesh Kumar Sharma, who was a friend of the couple and their employer, attempted to flee. Dulay shot him in the back. Dulay hid out with family members for five days before turning himself in to police. In 1992, he was convicted but in 1996, he attempted to escape, part of a scheme to flee to India, back to the village where he was raised, where friends and family would shelter him.
You claimed that you were acting in conformity with your religious beliefs in committing the murders, and that you would not be considered guilty of any crime in India.
Dulay claimed in his parole hearing in April this year, as he did in 2007 in a failed bid to seek earlier parole, that he has renounced honour killing.
You stated several times during the hearing that honour killings were wrong and stupid, and that you were very ashamed and remorseful for your actions.
Although Dulay has been out of prison several times on escorted temporary absences, the board expressed concern about the influences of family and friends. In 2006, a psychiatric assessment concluded he was a low risk to reoffend but noted “there were differing versions on file about your family’s influence on you at the time of the murders.”
The psychiatrist also had concerns about your request for ETAs to the Sikh Temple as some members of your community viewed you as a hero.
In 2010, Dulay was granted escorted temporary absence passes for family contact and to visit a Sikh Temple. The parole board now appears to be grappling with changing accounts from family members about whether they supported the murders and encouraged Dulay to carry them out. As part of the process of determining whether Dulay can be released into the community, family and friends are interviewed by Corrections staff. In 2011, interviews revealed that some people “indicated that they were more accepting” of the murders. In the past, family members had openly condoned Dulay’s actions. In recent assessments, people interviewed appear “less sympathetic” about the murders.
The authors of a [community assessment] completed in January 2013 on family members concluded that the contacts said “all the right things” but the authors were unsure of the genuineness of the contacts’ comments.
Dulay told the parole board that, if released, his goal was to “educate [his] younger family members with respect to honour killings.”
He could not explain, other than saying ‘No,’ how he would stand up to family or community members who might pressure him to continue to endorse honour killings.
Dulay is subject to a deportation order to India that was imposed in 1993. If he is granted unescorted passes or day parole, he could be immediately removed from Canada. Dulay is not subject to stricter immigration and parole rules that came into force 11 years ago. A killer sentenced after June 2002, and who is subject to a deportation order, is not eligible to seek release on unescorted absences or day parole. Most murderers are eligible to seek those two forms of freedom three years before their full parole eligibility. In the case of a murderer like Dulay, who is serving life with no parole for 25 years, it meant he was eligible to seek unescorted passes and day parole after 22 years behind bars.
Here is the complete written record of the parole hearing held April 24, 2013:
Note: The document embedded here contains a typo made by Parole Board staff. On page five, the document states that Dulay “completed six years of family contact UTAs.” These were, in fact, ETAs, escorted temporary absences and not Unescorted Temporary Absences.
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