Attempted murder on the Plateau: the accused would have already targeted the victim, an ex-spouse, a year earlier

The Montrealer who allegedly tried to kill an ex-spouse yesterday in the Plateau-Mont-Royal borough was already awaiting trial for beating the same woman a year earlier.

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“He could neither communicate with her nor be in her presence”, can we read in court documents filed this Monday at the Montreal courthouse, just after the appearance of Arif Mahmood Chaudhry.

The 51-year-old defendant was charged with serious counts of attempted murder, break and enter and possession of incendiary material in connection with a violent assault on Sunday afternoon.

According to the evidence gathered by the police, Chaudhry allegedly broke into the home of an ex-spouse. Armed with a knife, he would then have slit her throat, narrowly failing to kill her.

Fortunately, the 47-year-old woman managed to escape. The police were quickly contacted and when they arrived, the victim was already outside the building. His life is not in danger.

Detention requested

Chaudhry, who had fled, was finally arrested in the Saint-Laurent borough where he lives. He appeared in custody, and the Crown this time opposes his release on bail.

“There are concerns because of severe depression,” said the legal aid lawyer, while Judge Christian M. Tremblay ordered Chaudhry to be met by the psychosocial emergency.

However, if the accused now faces a long prison sentence if found guilty in this case, it would not be the first time that he attacked the woman, according to court documents consulted by The newspaper.

It is that on August 7 and 10, 2022, he would have hit the same woman, which had earned him a criminal charge. In this case, Chaudhry was at liberty pending trial, which is expected to be held in September.

Chaudhry will return to court on Tuesday, but the Crown has already announced that it will oppose any release at this stage.