Killer son bids for early parole ...
Jason...@virgin.net
Dad weeps for son
Killer son bids for early parole ...
By ALAN CAIRNS -- Toronto Sun
A man whose eight-year-old son was slain by Amina Chaudhary wept
yesterday as he recalled how his family "cried and cried until there
were no tears left."
Testifying in the judicial review to determine whether Chaudhary, 38,
can be declared eligible for early parole under "faint hope" laws,
Suresh "Steve" Gupta asked jurors not to forget his son, Rajesh, who was
murdered on Feb. 3, 1982.
"Think about him and the feelings of my family before making your
decision," Gupta said.
As he spoke, Chaudhary, who has served 15 years after receiving a life
term with no chance of parole for 25 years, sat hunched in the
prisoner's box. Not once did she look up.
Rajesh Gupta had been hit on the head and strangled with a cord from
his coat on his way to school. His body was found in a Scarborough
parking lot.
At the 1982 trial, prosecutors claimed Chaudhary, a Sikh, killed the
boy for "revenge" three days after her extramarital Hindu lover, Vijay
Gupta, Steve Gupta's brother and Rajesh's uncle, married a Hindu woman
in India.
The review has heard Chaudhary is a model prisoner who has bettered her
education. After marrying convicted murderer Anees Chaudhary in 1989,
she gave birth to three children in 1993, 1995 and 1997 and if released
she plans to take over their care from a foster mother in Sudbury.
While Correctional Services Canada staff and social workers support
Chaudhary's bid to be considered for early parole, citing her family and
educational moves, prosecutor Tony Loparco has suggested she is a
self-centred manipulator and a liar.
Gupta said Chaudhary had brought "unfathomable" and "absolute
devastation" to his family and "now it pains us greatly that she is
seeking leniency." He called Rajesh a "wonderful boy" who excelled at
school and was "full of life and energy, hopes and dreams."
"The thought of his pain ... the last breaths being stolen from him,
almost kills me today," Gupta said.