June 29, 2008	Sunday	Jamadi-us-Sani 24, 1429

TORONTO, June 28: The brother of a Canadian teenage girl who was strangled to death, apparently for failing to wear headscarf, was charged with first-degree murder.

Waqas Parvez, 27, initially was charged with obstruction of justice in the death of Aqsa Parvez.

Aqsa Parvez, whose family is of Pakistani origin, was 16 when she was killed last December during what friends claimed was a family dispute over her reluctance to wear the headscarf.

Shortly after the murder, her father, Muhammed Parvez, 57, was charged with second-degree murder. Earlier this month, the charge was upgraded to first-degree murder.

The killing sparked debate in Canada about the conflict between first- and second-generation immigrants: parents who hold to traditional values vs. children who desire to fit into western culture.

Police spokeswoman Samantha Nulle said on Friday that the investigation was going on and that authorities were looking into the possibility that others were involved in Aqsa’s death.Police have refused to confirm the murder was over the headscarf.

Muhammed Parvez’s lawyer, Joseph Ciraco, has said that there is “more to the story than just cultural issues.”

Sameer Zuberi, the Canadian spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said the death had set off discussions in the Muslim community about the cultural conflict.—AP