Canadian Mother Who Strangled Daughter Won't Be Jailed, Judge Rules

Aminat Magomadova, 14, is seen in an undated photograph. (Handout)

A judge's decision to free a Canadian mother convicted of strangling her 14-year-old daughter with a head scarf has prompted growing outrage from victims' advocates groups.

A suspended sentence was given to Aset Magomadova, 40, by Court of Queen's Bench Justice Sal LoVecchio on Thursday, stunning a national victims' group based in Toronto, the Vancouver Sun reports.

"I really strongly disagree," said Joe Wamback, founder and chairman of the Canadian Crime Victims Foundation.  "It sends a message to the rest of the community and the world that her daughter's life was valueless."

Wamback continued, "Even though this girl may have been a handful and trouble, that's not the issue. The issue is human life."

Magomadova was acquitted by LoVecchio in October of second-degree murder and found her guilty of manslaughter in the death of 14-year-old Aminat. The judge placed her on probation for three years with several conditions, including taking counseling for grief, depression and anger management, the Vancouver Sun reports.

Magomadova was charged after the incident at their home on Feb. 26, 2007, when Aminat refused to go to court to be sentenced for assaulting a female teaching at school. Magomadova, who is Muslim claimed her daughter lunged at her with a knife in her sewing room, where she prayed several times daily, the newspaper reports. Magomadova said she reacted by wrapping the scarf around her daughter's neck and told the girl twice to put the knife before she lost consciousness.

A knife was later found in the room, but the girl's fingerprints were not found on the weapon. LoVecchio, who rejected a claim of self-defense, ruled that Magomadova did not intend to kill her daughter, despite a finding by a medical examiner that death as a result of such an act would have taken at least 180 seconds.

Click here to read more on this story from the Vancouver Sun.