South Asian Woman Accused Of Murder In Ontario Found Fit To Stand Trial

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Rohinie Bisesar, the accused in the 2015 fatal stabbing of a young woman at a Toronto Shoppers Drug Mart, has been found fit to stand trial by the Ontario Review Board.

TORONTO – The South Asian woman charged with first-degree murder in the 2015 stabbing death of a another young South Asian woman in a downtown Toronto Shoppers Drug Mart has been found fit to stand trial this fall, the Ontario Review Board announced Monday.

Rohinie Bisesar, 43, was ordered by a judge to undergo additional treatment at a mental health facility in the city earlier this year before a tribunal could assess her fitness for the legal proceeding, reported CBC News.

The ORB is responsible for reviewing cases of people found unfit to stand trial due to a mental disorder or not criminally responsible in criminal cases.

The provincial watchdog has determined Bisesar’s mental state had improved enough to stand trial. She’s set to appear in a Toronto court on Oct. 29.

The ORB’s decision came after the Crown and defence in the case filed a joint submission earlier this year. The details of that submission are subject to a publication ban.

Bisesar has been in custody since being arrested following the December 2015 slaying of 28-year-old Rosemarie (Kim) Junor. During past court proceedings, Bisesar fired two lawyers and accused each of misrepresenting her.

Junor, a newlywed at the time, died in hospital days after being stabbed inside the Shoppers in the city’s underground PATH system near Bay and Wellington streets.

Police previously said the two women didn’t know each other and the attack was unprovoked.

Bisesar was initially charged with attempted murder before the charge was upgraded to second-degree murder and then, first-degree murder after police uncovered new evidence that suggested she had carried a knife into the drug store and the stabbing might have been premeditated.

Bisesar graduated from York University’s undergraduate and graduate business programs, and had held several jobs in the city’s financial district.

She was hospitalized during the initial hearing and told the court she heard voices and claimed to have had a microchip implanted inside her. That led Superior Court Justice John McMahon to question her mental state and order two separate 60-day psychiatric assessments. The results of which, last year, concluded Bisesar was unfit to stand trial.

Dr. Ian Swayze, a forensic psychiatrist, testified that Bisesar was schizophrenic and experienced delusions, auditory hallucinations, disordered thoughts and paranoia.

Her condition prevented her from conducting her own defence or instructing a defence lawyer, Swayze said — a requirement for being fit to stand trial.

Courtesy CBC News