Muslim TV chief accused of beheading wife
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. - The crime is rife with brutal irony: a woman decapitated, allegedly by her estranged husband, in the offices of the television network the couple founded with the hope of countering Muslim stereotypes.
Muzzammil "Mo" Hassan is accused of beheading his wife last week, days after she filed for divorce. Authorities have not discussed the role religion or culture might have played, but the slaying gave rise to speculation that it was the sort of "honor killing" more common in countries half a world away, including the couple's native Pakistan.
Funeral services for Aasiya Hassan, 37, were yesterday. Her husband, 44, is scheduled to appear for a felony hearing today.
The Hassans lived in Orchard Park, an affluent Buffalo suburb, and started Bridges TV there in 2004 with the message of developing understanding between North America and the Middle East and South Asia. The network, available across the United States and Canada, was believed to be the first English-language cable station aimed at the rapidly growing Muslim demographic.
Orchard Park Police Chief Andrew Benz said his officers had responded to domestic incidents involving the couple, most recently Feb. 6, the day Mo Hassan was served with the divorce papers and an order of protection.
On Feb. 12, Hassan went to a police station and told officers his wife was dead at the TV studio.
The New York president of the National Organization for Women, Marcia Pappas, condemned prosecutors for referring to the death as an apparent case of domestic violence.
"This was, apparently, a terroristic version of 'honor killing,' " a statement from NOW said.
Nadia Shahram, who teaches family law and Islam at the University at Buffalo Law School, explained honor killing as a practice still accepted among fanatical Muslim men who feel betrayed by their wives or daughters.
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