Twenty-six-year-old Rajwinder Kaur vanished on Sunday night, last seen around 8:00 p.m., while leaving to volunteer at a nearby homeless shelter. That same night, the sister of the missing woman received a text from her phone number with the following message:
"The owner of this phone is dead, but she was smiling."
This is one strange message and certainly one that has the family of the missing woman in a panic. Meanwhile, investigators are looking into it, but it doesn't appear that the cellphone or the woman have been found. This case has an ominous feeling around it. Could it be possible that someone from the homeless shelter did something to harm Rajwinder Kaur? The problem with homeless shelters and camps is the anonymity that comes with being "off the grid" so-to-speak. Some of these people are drifting sex offenders, perhaps even murderers or other violent mentalities.
However, this could also be a hoax. Even the sister of the missing woman expresses that she at first thought it was some kind of sick joke. Months ago a woman by the name of Aisha Khan went missing under similar circumstances and even faked her own abduction sparking a high-profile search for her. In the end, she had simply run away and didn't want her family or husband knowing about her whereabouts.
This won't be a popular opinion, but that kind of behavior seems to be prominent among Indian women as well as Muslim women in general. The young daughters of strictly practicing families tend to behave in a way as to crave freedom while hiding those desires from their loved ones. Perhaps it is out of fear of honor killings, which some people deny even exist in the United States and Canada -- but they most certainly do. Hopefully investigators get to the bottom of this case and see if Rajwinder is safe. Otherwise, something far more sinister is at play.
Crime analyst and profiler Chelsea Hoffman can be found on The Huffington Post, Chelsea Hoffman: Case to Case and many other outlets. Follow @TheRealChelseaH on Twitter or click here to contact Chelsea directly.
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Comments: 30 ( 21 removed by Chelsea Hoffman )
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honor_killing
here's a post about it if any of you want to tune in or at least find out what's going to be in the show program.
http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474981467294
Please consider this - someone in Queens or Brooklyn hears about her disappearance on the news or on a poster. They Google her name to find out more, to see if she's been found etc.
The first thing they see is: Is Rajwinder Kaur Dead or is this a Hoax?
Can you see how they might be less inclined to pursue it, to help spread the word, or to call the police about some suspicious behavior they saw?
Can you see that her family, her friends and the hundreds of people helping and praying for her might be deeply hurt by your speculation, when what we need is HELP finding someone we love?
Best.
However, people don't always search the google news results -- the main google results contains some rather inflammatory discussion about the young woman that is far worse than anything I've speculated upon.
Her sister is first to raise concern of this possibly being "a joke" -- but I do assure you that I intend on providing more coverage of this case and will do so with an open mind for all angles -- whether it is a hoax or not.
Someone who is as thorough in their research would provide a source and be discerning of the context of a traumatic situation to know if a family member might have been quoted as saying something like 'we wondered if it was a joke' in shock over their loss, etc.
It seems as though any possiblity of it being 'a joke' or "a hoax" as you stated are a bit less prevalent in their stream of thought as per the following quote:
“It said ‘The girl with this phone is dead was smiling,’ ” according to an older sister, Lucky Kaur, 29. “This text really scared us.”
from this article: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/chilling-text-missing-woman-phone-girl-phone-dead-article-1.1112723#ixzz20PddJ9q1
;)
Google. Search. Works. Wonders.
Yes, in the other case you mentioned, that might have been the case, but to attach that same assumption to this girl's disappearance completely downplays the seriousness of it. Those comments are also complete Western assumptions that are founded in no truth or research at all. Sure, honor killings do exist, both in South Asia and here in America (as well as other places). You don't know that she came from a strictly practicing family or that she craved "freedom" (whatever that was intended to mean), and to attach that to this case just because she is from an Indian family is such an ignorant thing to do.
Make bold statements like that, which are really ignorant opinions you're trying to pass off as facts, about things you do know about, not things that are unfamiliar to you. And saying that you knew a few Indian/Muslim girls who did something like that, or that you've read a few things isn't enough to make you an expert on it and make generalizing statements.
I, and lots of other Indian girls I know, come from strictly practicing Indian families and we do not "tend" to behave in the way you describe.
"This won't be a popular opinion," said I
"opinions you are passing off as facts," says you..
You do realize I blatantly started off my statement with the word "opinion," right?
;) pay attention please.
Of course it matters! That is the essential distinction between a baseless conjecture and a substantive argument.
the point was, to put such crap in an article about a woman who went missing insinuates that she falls into your generalization, when you can't know a damn thing about it.
There is no excuse for bigotry.
there is every excuse for calling out someone who writes as if they have any right to generalize about the experiences of indian women more than indian women themselves. there is no bigotry in any of my comments.
As I stated before, there is no excuse for it. You've lost any credibility as a person even remotely worth addressing due to the comments you've made.
How's that for "ignorant, western and privileged" ?
As a member of the Indian community, I am outraged at this post! Indians do not believe in honor killings! Maybe the Islamic community, but not the indian community. I suggest doing some proper research on the subject.
There are many Indian girls out there that don't meet the description of what you have found. I know I am certainly am not. Yes, I did struggle growing up with conflicting cultures (indian & american), but tell me which 1st generation immigrant child hasn't?
Have a great week and thanks for reading
thanks
I have now placed all my deleted comments as personal posts and I have invited all the commenters in this section to post their deleted comments on my gather page. Hopefully, this will allow for a free discussion and correction of your speculations on Rajwinder Kaur.
thanks :)
:) have a good one.
I am from Queens and went to speak to her family friends directly, and I can only hope that in the time since I spoke to them that they did not come across this page. And I especially her hope that her family hasn't read it either. They would all be so hurt and insulted by what you wrote about her.
This article does nothing except spread racial stereotypes and slander the Muslim faith. You should not rely on an Internet search engine or an online encyclopedia (that, mind you, can be edited by any random websurfer) to write articles about a serious case.