Daughter Rejects Marriage, Ends Up Dead

July 7, 2008— -- A Georgia father of Pakistani descent allegedly strangled his 25-year-old daughter because she wanted to get out of an arranged marriage to a man she had not seen in months, according to police in Clayton County, Ga.

Chaudhry Rashid, 56, was scheduled to be arraigned today on a murder charge. Rashid was arrested early Sunday morning at his family's house after police responded to a domestic disturbance call and found his daughter, Sandeela Kanwal, dead in an upstairs bedroom.

The Clayton County Medical Examiner confirmed that Kanwal died of strangulation. Police recovered an iron by the young woman's bedroom doorway and a necklace on a family room table that may have been used in the killing, according to a Clayton County police report.

Authorities allege that Rashid killed his daughter because he feared that her resistance to a recently arranged marriage would disgrace the Pakistani-American family.

"She was very unhappy with the marriage, had not seen the husband in three months and was seeking a divorce," Timothy Owens, a spokesman for the Clayton County Police Department, told ABC News. "The father felt like the he had to uphold his family's honor."

Gina Rashid, identified as Chaudhry's 49-year-old wife and Kanwal's mother, called 911 at 1:59 a.m. Sunday after she heard screaming and fled the house. She told authorities that her daughter may have been dead in an upstairs bedroom, according to the Clayton County police report.

When officers responded to the quiet neighborhood in Jonesboro, they were met in the driveway of the Georgia house by two males, one of whom told police their father had said their sister was dead. Their father was upset, uncharacteristically smoking cigarettes, according to the police report. The officer, Richard Locates, called for additional police units and approached Chaudhry Rashid, who was sitting on the driveway behind a car.

"I asked him if he spoke any English and he indicated a little bit," Locates wrote in his report. "I asked him what happened and he said, 'My daughter is dead.'"

The murder suspect did not respond when asked how the young woman died, Locates reported, instead dropping his eyes to the ground.