He Gave Love A Bad Name ...

     If it wasn't for their pictures being posted all over the internet and on the cover of newspapers and for the Facebook memorial sites popping up day after after, their story would seem more like an episode of "CSI" or "Criminal Minds" than an actual case ... It just seems too sensational to be real. But then again, there are some really crazy people out there who make this world one crazy scary place to live in.
     The story I am referring to, of course, is the shooting of Nazish Noorani, and her guilty (but also shot) husband Kashif Parvaiz.

Photo c/o the AP

     If you have been following this story, you know that Parvaiz was not the one to pull the trigger ... He apparently plotted to kill his wife ... And a woman named Antoinette Stephen pulled the trigger while the couple were walking home with their 3-year-old child. Reports are unsure as to the relationship between Parvaiz and Stephen. 

     Even if Parvaiz didn't pull the trigger, hearing stories like this is scary, especially when you consider the lies. Parvaiz told Noorani's family that he had studied at Harvard, yet there are no records of him there. She was apparently being abused by him. Noorani sent a text message to her brother stating that she couldn't "talk to him cuz he abuses me ... I'm so tired of this ... Someday U will find me dead, but it's cuz of Kashi ... he wants to kill me."

     Noorani's prophecy came true. Her husband admitted on Friday that he plotted with a friend to have his wife killed, and himself injured, in order to make it seem like a random act of violence.

     This story is that much sadder because their child not only watched their mother gunned down in the street, but also lost their father the very same day. Their child was essentially orphaned because of what? An affair? A bad marriage? Or simply the insanity of a madman? If it was one of the first, the decent thing to do would have been to admit it to himself and his wife ... and his family ... and get a divorce.

     Men like him give marriage ... and love ... a bad, and scary, name.

Bang bang, you shot down. Bang bang, I hit the ground. Bang bang, that awful sound. Bang bang, my baby shot me down. You shot me right between the eyes. You left me paralyzed. Bang bang bang bang bang. Oh, oh baby, I'm laying on the ground. I'll never come around. [Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down) - Cher]

Side Note: If you or someone you know is being abused, please check the following sites for information and help:

The Hotline (National Domestic Violence Hotline -> 1-800-799-SAFE)

Safe Horizon (1-800-621-HOPE; includes information on legal assistance and trafficking cases)

Wafa House (1-800-930-WAFA; serves the specific needs of Middle Eastern and South Asian women)

If it is an emergency, call 911.

And always remember ...