Shafia mother disputes accounts in diary

The Montreal woman accused of killing three teenage daughters and her husband's other wife took the witness stand in her owndefence Mondayto disputeclaimsshe had rocky relationships with family members.

Tooba Yahya, 42, her husband, Mohammad Shafia, 59,and their eldest son, Hamed, 20, each facefour counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of the Shafia sistersZainab, 19, Sahar, 17, and Geeti, 13 and Rona Amir Mohammad, 52, Shafia's other wife in a polygamous marriage.

Their bodies were discovered in a car submerged in a canal near Kingston in July 2009.The cause of death was determined to be drowning.

The defendants, who have been jailed since their arrests in 2009, have pleaded not guilty to all counts.

Within minutes of her testimony,Yahya broke down in tears, causing a brief delay in proceedings, as she recounted her relationship with her husband's other wife. Yahya said she felt sorry forRona Amir because she wasn't able to bear children, adding she even gave the womanherdaughter Sahar to raise.

The high-profile trial began in October in Kingston and was adjourned for three weeks over the holidays. It recommenced Monday morning in what is expected to be the final two weeks of arguments.

The family moved to Montreal in 2007 after fleeing Afghanistan several years earlier.

The Crown contends the victims were killed because the girls' behaviour and boyfriends brought shame on the family in the eyes of the accused.

After taking the stand, Yahya maintained she had a good relationship withRona Amir, despitethe fact that Amir had written in herdiary that Yahya "separated Shafie from me forever" and "took the power of the household from me."

Yahya testifiedshe and Shafianever limited the other wife'smovements or her finances.

Diary 'didn't have any meaning for us'

Shetold the courtshe found the diary while cleaning the houseafter the deaths.

"It didn't have any meaning for us. I just put it there on the table. There was noneed for me to hide that or burn that," she told the court.

Yahya also testified thatwhen herhusband returned from abusiness trip, she would not tell him about any disciplinaryissues with the children, "becauseof his habit to make small thingshe used to make it a big thing."

She saidone time she saw Shafia strikethe children, butthat the parents would always try to verbally discipline them or take away their allowance instead.

Yahya testified the Shafia children did not fast for Islam's holy month of Ramadan. She said her husband didn't want them to because he was concerned it would "stunt their growth."

She said she taught the children about their religion, but did not force it on them. The defence showed a number of family photos and noted that most of the female members seen in them were not wearing the Islamic hijab head-covering.

Daughter acted outwhen 'she wantedexpensive things'

The defence later questioned Yahya aboutanother claimin the diary, whereRona Amir writes abouta suicide attempt by Sahar after an argument. In the diary, Rona describes the girl swallowing the preservative that comes in purses and Yahya dismissing it, saying, "Let her kill herself."

Yahya presented a different version of what happened. She didn't deny that Sahar swallowedthe preservative, but said she spit it up and refused medical attention. She said Sahar frequently said, "I'll kill myself" when she didn't get her way.

Yahya said one of Sahar's teachers offered heranexplanation for thegirl's behaviour. She told the court the teacher said, "Because you love her a lot, she is abusing this emotion whenever she wants expensive things."

Earlier in the trial, court heard that on the day of the drownings, the family had been returning to Montreal following a trip to Niagara Falls, Ont. They had stopped at a motel in Kingston for the night.

The defence has maintained the deaths were an accident that happened after the elder daughter, Zainab, took the keys to her fathers car and drove it into the Rideau Canal in June 2009.

Court has already heard testimony from dozens of witnesses, including family members, teachers, social workers, police officers and technical experts.

Jury members have also heard a series ofwiretap conversationsbetween the accused recorded secretly by the Kingston police.