thenownewspaper.com Tuesday, November 23, 2010
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❚ NEWS
Panghali to Delta police: ‘We were supposed to die of old age’ SURREY — “If it’s not Tony, from Tom ZYTARUK my perspective, my wife was in the Staff Reporter wrong place at the wrong time.” This was Muhktiar Singh Panghali’s musing to Delta police during a taped interview at their headquarters in Ladner, two days after his pregnant wife Manjit Panghali’s charred body was found along the DeltaPort Causeway. Investigators had asked him where they should begin to look to solve her murder. The former Surrey schoolteacher is on trial in B.C. Supreme Court in New Westminster for second-degree murder and interfering with a dead body in connection with the strangulation of his wife in October 2006. The Crown alleges he staged the discovery of her car in Whalley, burned her body then delayed for as long as he could before filing a missing person report with the Surrey RCMP. During the Delta police interview, played in court Monday, the accused told police about his wife’s friend Tony and how their association was an “issue” for him. “I didn’t know what his intentions were,” he explained. Asked why he brought Tony up, Panghali replied: “He comes up because he was a question mark for me.”
Asked if he thought Tony was capable of harming his wife, Panghali told the police: “my heart says no but my mind says I don’t know.” He and his wife “had a wonderful life together,” he said. He was “overwhelmed” by her death. “We were supposed to die of old age, not something like this,” he told the police. MANJIT PANGHALI His wife didn’t return from a prenatal yoga class she’d been to in South Surrey – a class he mistakenly thought had been at the Whalley public library. Asked why he waited 26 hours before calling police to report her missing, Panghali said he’d started his own search much earlier. “In my eyes it’s like five hours,” he said. “If I thought she was missing the moment I said goodbye to her, I would have called police that night.” He told investigators it’s “East Indian mentality” not to make a “big stink” over what might be nothing. His
wife had stayed out all night before, he noted. Her relatives wept in court Friday after Panghali’s lawyer hauled out gruesome autopsy photos of her burned body while cross-examining a gynecologist on how dried blood might have appeared in a part of her pelvis that wasn’t destroyed by fire. The grisly photos were not displayed in court for the gallery to view but some could be seen as lawyer Michael Tammen carried them to and from the witness box. Dr. Charles Lee, the pathologist who did the autopsy, earlier testified he had noticed blood “where there shouldn’t have been.” On Friday, Dr. Geoffrey Cundiff, a gynecologist, was called by the Crown as an expert witness for his opinion on what could have produced the bleeding. “I would not consider it to be done by fire,” he opined. “It would have to be pretty significant force. “It could also be from a severe kick, for example,” Cundiff offered, or from an “instrument of some type,” like a stick. The trial continues. tzytaruk@thenownewspaper.com
❚EDUCATION/“It’s good to give back to people who need it”
Student entrepreneurs use web to change lives SURREY – For the price Marisa of a pair of jeans, you could BABIC Staff Reporter be helping someone in a developing country start a small business and lift themselves out of poverty. Students at Johnston Heights Secondary school are helping budding entrepreneurs through a micro-lending website called Kiva. The experience has been an eyeopener for members of the school’s local Kiva club, prompting some students to re-examine their values. “Instead of buying jeans, you could help someone get a better lifestyle, or help send their children to school — things more important than an extra pair of jeans,” said club member Jennifer Tang, 15. The school’s Kiva club was set up in 2007. Through Kiva’s website, students make loans as small as $25 to applicants listed on the website. Other lenders around the world add to the pot. Most applicants seek a modest sum to start their dream business, between $2,000 and $3,000. Lender funds are funneled to the loan seekers through a field partner. As the entrepreneur repays the loan, the field partner sends the money back to Kiva and lenders can then either cash in their principle or recycle the cash to other recipients. Lenders browse the Kiva website and chose an entrepreneur to fund, which they can select by gender, country, sector, individual or group. Along with her schoolmate Emma Cheung, Jennifer’s job with the club is to select loan recipients. In searching for worthy recipients, the students look for “five star” designa-
Jennifer Tang and Emma Cheung are two of the many Kiva Club participants at Johnston Heights Secondary school. The ❚PHOTO/Sharon Doucette club provides micro-loans to people in the developing world. tions earned through endorsements by other lenders. The team prefers to make loans to groups rather than to individuals. “We look more for groups because we want our money to help as many people as possible,” Jennifer said. Earlier this month, the school marked its 500th micro-loan with a
celebration. In total, the school has loaned over $10,000 to entrepreneurs since the club was formed. Students raise the cash to finance the loans through various fundraisers. One of the first people the club helped was a woman in Vietnam with a torn fishing net. The club’s loan allowed
the woman to repair her net and reclaim her role as family breadwinner. Emma said it’s very satisfying to know that a tiny loan can make such a huge difference in someone’s life. “Every little bit helps,” she said. “It’s good to give back to people who need it.” mbabic@thenownewspaper.com