In April 2017, Arianna Goberdhan, then nine months pregnant was murdered by her husband. Both mother and unborn child were killed in the attack but husband Nicholas Baig was charged with only one murder because Canadian law does not recognize the unborn child as a human being.
Section 223 of the Criminal Code of Canada reads:
When child becomes human being
223 (1) A child becomes a human being within the meaning of this Act when it has completely proceeded, in a living state, from the body of its mother, whether or not
(a) it has breathed;
(b) it has an independent circulation; or
(c) the navel string is severed.
Arianna had named her daughter Asaara. Grandmother Sherry Goberdhan said:”For this law to say my granddaughter wasn’t a human being is wrong. When we saw her five days after the fact she was perfect.”
As the law stands, if a baby dies after being born, from wounds sustained in utero, the father can be charged with two murders. Otherwise, the Criminal Code turns a blind eye to the other victim, the unborn child. However, there were two victims that day, mother Arianna and baby Asaara.
