Pak-American quotes Gandhi, says he's victim of 'psychological rape' - Express India
New York : A Pakistani-American television executive was found guilty by a court here of killing and beheading his wife in 2009 and faces up to 25 years in prison.
Muzzammil Hassan, a father of two, who defended himself in the case, telling the jury that he had been a victim of "psychological rape" during the nine years of his marriage to Aasiya Hassan, was convicted of second-degree murder.
Hassan was convicted in less than an hour of deliberations by a jury in Buffalo for killing his wife who had sought divorce from him, according to Buffalo News.
In January when the trial started, Erie County District Attorney Paul Bonanno told jurors that Hassan used two hunting knives to kill Aasiya on February 12, 2009.
She was stabbed 40 times, and Hassan sawed his wife's head off, Bonanno said, asserting that her body was found in a hallway with her severed head several feet away.
Hassan, who opened a TV station with his wife to dispel negative perceptions about Muslims after 9/11, chose to defend himself during the trial.
During this time, Hassan acted as a witness for four days and gave detailed accounts of his marriage to the jury - in which he maintained that he was the battered party.
This was also the theme of his long closing statement during which he blamed the prosecution for buying into the lies spread by his wife in the last two years of their marriage, according to Buffalo News.
"All these people are hearing stories.. They want you to believe stories are evidence. They have no witnesses," he told the jury in closing arguments.
Hassan said those who had testified against him had preconceived notions that only women can be abuse victims.
He said that he stands against this gender-biased model of "false beliefs" -- the way Gandhi stood against colonialism, the way former US President Ronald Reagan stood against communism and the way former South African President Nelson Mandela stood against apartheid, the local paper reported.
Hassan also claimed that he was a victim of "psychological rape" and that his wife used their children as weapons and pawns in their marriage.
"Only the victim sees the evil side. The world does not," he said.
Hassan, who will be sentenced on March 9, faces up to 25 years in prison. The couple had two children.
