Petty Mahabir-Chaitram’s story was not a happy one, but she was just starting to turn that around when her husband caught up to her and changed all of that again.

Petty Mahabir-Chaitram was originally from Trinidad, where she had married and had three children. When her children were still very small, her first husband died and she remarried Mathura Chaitram. The two lived in Trinidad and raised the children together until last year, when they decided to move to Canada. Sadly, shortly after they moved, Chaitram started hitting the children and being very rough with them. To remove her children from the situation, Petty found a two-bedroom basement apartment on Vivaldi Crescent in Brampton for her and her children to move into. The family of four had been in the apartment for less than two months when Chaitram showed up on April 1, 2011 and fatally stabbed Petty, just before stabbing himself.

Inside the house on Friday morning, Anjum Syed, the owner of the house, was upstairs with his children preparing for their day. Little did they know that downstairs, Chaitram had come over to argue with Mahabir-Chaitram, and the argument escalated to the point where they both went outside into the side yard. It was there, by Syed’s patio stones, that Chaitram stabbed his wife and himself. Syed nor his family had any idea that anything was transpiring until children started to gather on his front lawn and look through a fence to the backyard. Syed quickly went downstairs to Mahabir-Chaitram’s children and led them outside, away from where their mother lay out back.

The Syed family had only kind things to say about the family, saying that they were very quiet, never raised a commotion, and they never heard any arguing coming from the lower apartment. Syed’s daughter, who went to school with Mahabir-Chaitram’s youngest child, also said that the boy was very quiet and very kind.

Mahabir-Chaitram’s niece, Asha Mahabir, aged 36, flew from Trinidad where she lives on Wednesday to take the three children back to Trinidad.

It was only a couple of weeks ago when George Wass, 62, died due to injuries he received after being beaten on the porch of his Parkdale boarding house. Wass was one victim of many in the area and after he suffered such horrible consequences, everyone hoped that would be the end of the Parkdale attacks. But a new incident, which occurred early Tuesday morning, shows that Parkdale is still a very scary place and one that is being targeted.

Dan Chiarelli, 45, was walking home to his boarding house on Maynard Avenue at about 3:00 a.m. after dropping his girlfriend off at the street car. Hearing someone run up behind him, Chiarelli turned around only to be met with a punch to the face. The attacker then continued to kick and punch Chiarelli fiercely for several minutes. It was only after someone from a nearby apartment building yelled at him to stop that the attacker fled.

Chiarelli is the sixth Parkdale victim to be attacked since January. All victims have lived in one of two boarding homes on Maynard Avenue and the first five were mental health patients. Chiarelli once worked as a mechanic but is currently unemployed and living off social assistance. He says that his attacker wore dark clothes and a scarf over his face; the attacker in the first beatings always wore a ski mask. Police believe that the same individual is responsible for all six beatings. Chiarelli says that the attack was “senseless” because the attacker didn’t say one word to him, nor did he even reach for Chiarelli’s wallet.

Police are definitely increasing patrols in the area, with both uniformed and plain-clothed policemen patrolling the area 24 hours a day. Still, residents of the area say it’s not enough and that the police presence needs to still be stepped up. “We’re not feeling secure,” said the owner of one of the boarding homes. “It’s quite paralyzing.”

Chiarelli also doesn’t think that the current police presence is enough to stop the attacks. He’s looking to move out of the area as soon as possible, and says that the day can’t come soon enough when he can leave Parkdale, an area of the city that is becoming incredibly dangerous.

When Constable Michael Sanguinetti spoke about safety practices at York University in late January, he probably thought that he was going to enlighten today’s youth on how to keep themselves safer and avoid dangerous situations. He probably didn’t realize he was going to shed light on the fact that many Toronto police officers are still ignorant about situations as serious as rape, or that he was about to start a major nationwide protest.

When Const. Sanguinetti arrived at the school, he began his lecture on regular safety procedures and personal safety. Shortly after the officer began speaking about rape he told the crowd of students that “women should avoid dressing like sluts in order not to be victimized.” The statement is shocking in this day, and caused a great deal of backlash from students and residents of Toronto. But the response from the Toronto police department has caused many women to take matters into their own hands – and out onto the streets of Toronto.

The first official SlutWalk was held on Sunday, April 3, 2011. The walk consisted of people, mostly women, walking around in stiletto heels, fishnet stockings, shirts with plunging necklines, and anything else that could be considered “slutty.” These women were out to make a point – that women have a right to wear whatever they want, and that those choices do not lead to rape. The women were enraged with the police officer’s remarks that put the blame back on the victim instead of the perpetrator, but they seemed even more incensed at the little action that was taken by Toronto police after the ignorant remark was made.

The Toronto police came out publicly almost immediately after the remark was made, to say that Constable Sanguinetti’s remarks were not consistent with the training of the Toronto police and that all Toronto police officers must complete sensitivity training as well as proper rape training. Chief Bill Blair also said that Sanguinetti was properly disciplined over what he said, but there were no details given on just what that discipline involved. Constable Sanguinetti is also still part of 31 Division, although he was not on duty on Sunday during the walk.

But the lack of response to Sanguinetti’s comments isn’t the only thing that SlutWalk organizers are protesting; they also feel as though their concerns are being ignored by the Toronto police. Co-founder Heather Jarvis, told reporters at the event that she had made three different, specific requests to Toronto police that had gone unanswered. The requests included restructuring education and training for Toronto police, implementation of that training from third-party sources, and an improvement on public outreach programs including education regarding “rape myths.” That, along with the disinterest of the police to take part in the walk on Sunday, only seemed to cement the belief of many that the Toronto police aren’t as sensitive as they should be to the issue of rape.

But the Toronto police department says that’s just not the case. Constable Wendy Drummond did tell reporters that that the organizers of the walk were provided with an outline of the changes and revisions made to sexual assault police procedures. Const. Drummond also responded to the fact that there was no Toronto police officer actively participating at the event by saying, “We have reached out to them. But wanting to put us up there and not be heard, is just not something that we’re going to do.”

SlutWalk Toronto has also spurred on other SlutWalks in cities such as Vancouver, Ottawa, and Boston.

On Tuesday night Mohamed Hersi, 25, was about to board his plane in Pearson Airport when instead, police arrested the man on terrorism charges. There were two charges in total; one was for attempting to participate in terrorism activity and the other was providing counsel to someone who could then participate in a terrorist activity. The arrest came after an anonymous tip was placed with police in September, indicating that Hersi was involved with a terrorist group in Somalia. That tip led to an investigation that went on for more than six months, and to Hersi’s ultimate arrest.

There is little that’s known about the charges or the investigation, as it is still ongoing and authorities are reluctant to release more information until they know more. They do believe that when Hersi was boarding the plane he was headed for London, England, where he would catch a connecting flight to Cairo, where he could then easily get to Somalia. It’s believed by police that once in Somalia, Hersi was planning on becoming part of the terrorist group, Al Shabaab. This group has been recognized as a terrorist group in both Canada and the United States, and having any affiliation or participation within that group is considered to be a crime.

Hersi graduated from the University of Toronto in 2009 with a Bachelor of Science degree. He also held a job in the Toronto area until recently, but police would not say where he worked, what he did, or his reasons for leaving. RCMP Inspector, Keith Finn, who’s been helping head the investigation against Hersi, has said that the RCMP and the police officers working on the case have enough pieces of critical evidence to lay criminal charges, and that even though a lot isn’t being said about the case right now, authorities are also very confident that they have enough to make and support a case against Hersi. Hersi appeared in court very briefly on Wednesday where he was remanded until Friday. At that time, a special bail hearing date will be set, which will probably be on Wednesday or Thursday of next week.

Toronto officials say that while this latest terrorism charge is worrisome, it’s indicative of the “radicalization” they’re seeing more and more within Canada, and that it seems to mostly be the country’s youth that are becoming radicalized. Both the RCMP and the Toronto Police are urging people to become more aware and more educated about the amount of radicalization, so that communities and police can work together to stop it, just as it happened in this case.