Abdul Malik Rustam, the "burqa" killer who came into prominence after being accused of the cold-blooded murder of his 21-year-old wife, was sentenced to life imprisonment for 17 years with no possibility for parole. Justice John McMahon announced it on Wednesday, March 5.

Mr Rustam, who is a Canadian citizen, wore women's shoes and a burqa. He strangled his wife Shaher Bano Shahdady to death and left her lifeless body with their 2-year-old son for 15 hours. Her fault was that she had asked for a divorce. Her body was eventually discovered in her apartment in Scarborough, Ontario.

According to Mr McMohan, in addition to the murder, what made Mr Rustam's crime even more serious was what he had done to his son. He called it an "exceptionally callous disregard" for the well-being of the young child, Toronto Sun reported. Justice McMohan also said that it would be difficult to understand what the child had gone through while sitting beside its mother's murdered body for 15 hours. The only "glimmer of hope" should be the fact that the child is so young that the memory might "fade into" its memory, he said.

The judge further clarified that the murder was not something that occurred at the heat of the moment. There was no heated argument prior to the incident. Mr Rustam - who claims to be extremely religious - went to his wife's apartment, killed her and then went to the mosque with his father-in-law for the "Fajr" - the Morning Prayer - at 4:30 am. Later, he informed his brother that he had "finished her." The judge said that Ms Shahdady left scratch marks on Mr Rustam's neck and face as she fought courageously for her life.

Ironically, Mr Rustam was the one opened the door of his wife's apartment for his in-laws so that they could find her body. He appeared to have been grief-stricken after seeing his wife's corpse and confessed everything to police.

According to reports, Mr Rustan had problems with his wife using Internet and having an online connection with a Dubai man.

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