TORONTO, Ont. – Aqsa Parvez was a normal 16-year-old Muslim teenager who was balancing the line between wanting to be an individual as well as fitting in with her peers while also living under the strict guidelines set forth by her religion. She had recently stopped wearing her hijab, the head scarf that Muslim women are required to wear in public. A decision that had caused a lot of stress between her and her devout Muslim family. Like a lot of Muslim teens, they dress one way around their parents but dressed another once around friends. She was afraid of how her parents were going to accept her decision of not wearing the hijab and it turns out those fears were warranted.

Friends say that her and her family had been arguing over this issue for over a year. They said the fights with her father got so bad that she had left the family home to live with friends about a week ago. “She was going back, but just to get her stuff,” said friend Krista Garbutt. “She was scared to go home, but she had to get her clothes and stuff.” On Monday, following an argument with her father over her refusal to wear the piece of clothing, her 57-year-old father choked her to death and then called 911 explaining that he just killed his daughter. When police arrived at the house they found Aqsa on the floor without any vital signs.

The father has been arrested on second-degree murder charges and her brother, Waqas Parvez, 26, has been charged with obstruction of justice.

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