A Montreal mother facing charges that she tried to kill her teenaged daughter in what police suspect may have been an attempted honour killing will undergo a 30-day psychiatric evaluation.
Johra Kaleki, 38, was scheduled to appear in a provincial courthouse Monday afternoon to be arraigned on three charges -- attempted murder, aggravated assault and assault with a weapon -- in connection with the incident at a Dorval home.
Instead, her lawyer successfully argued to have her brought to a psychiatric hospital for evaluation to determine if she's fit to stand trial. Lawyer Tom Pentefountas told Judge Serge Boisvert his client became hysterical Sunday morning, which was out of character.
"We have a situation where a mother was alleged to have stabbed her teenage daughter, the reason being alleged that she came home late," Pentefountas told the judge.
"My colleague is raising in the file the idea of crimes of honour, and we think there was a temporary lapse in the mental capacity of Johra."
The Crown did not oppose Pentefountas' request.
Kaleki was dressed in a T-shirt and sweat pants for her court appearance, and began to cry when her husband called out to the judge, professing his wife's innocence.
"Please sir, my wife is innocent," Ebrahim Ebrahimi said, before being quieted.
Kaleki will next appear in court on July 12.
Montreal police Const. Olivier Lapointe said earlier Monday the incident occurred at a semi-detatched home on Rue Louise-Lamy about 8:15 a.m. on Sunday.
Police were called to the scene by someone inside the home, Lapointe said.
Lapointe said a 19-year-old victim suffered injuries to the head, shoulder and arm. She is in stable condition in hospital.
Kaleki was arrested by police and taken to hospital for treatment for a cut to her arm. She was held in police custody until Monday's court proceedings.
Kaleki allegedly attacked her daughter, while three other daughters -- aged 16, 14, and 10 -- were inside the home along with her husband. The three girls will remain with child protection services until the case is settled, prosecutor Anne Gauvin told reporters.
The accused is forbidden to communicate with her daughters but is still allowed to speak to her husband.
Gauvin had requested that Kaleki be prohibited from speaking to her husband.
"He's one of the Crown's witnesses and I believe his implication in the file is important and I don't want him to be polluted by what she could tell him," Gauvin said.
"He's also the father of four witnesses."
After an interrogation of the suspect, police believe this may have been a so-called "honour crime," said Lapointe, though the investigation continues.
CTV Montreal's Rob Lurie reported that the mother "allegedly stabbed her daughter in the head, face and shoulders."
In a separate report on CTV News Channel, Lurie said the family is originally from Afghanistan and is relatively new to Canada.
Neighbours told CTV Montreal that the 19-year-old victim sometimes wore a hijab when leaving the house, while not wearing a hijab on other occasions.
With a report from CTV Montreal's Rob Lurie
