The lawyer for Johra Kaleki, 38, said his client suffered a temporary lapse of mental capacity at the time of the incident. (CBC)

A Montreal-area mother has been charged with attempted murder after her teenage daughter needed hospital treatment for stab wounds in what police are calling a "crime of honour."

Johra Kaleki, 38, broke into tears during a brief appearance at a Montreal courthouse Monday afternoon.

Police were called to a home in Dorval, on the West Island, early Sunday after receiving a call about a domestic dispute. When officers arrived, they found a 19-year-old girl with stab wounds on her head and face.

Her mother, a native of Afghanistan, was arrested.

The victim — the eldest of four daughters — has severe head injuries, but police said her life was not in danger.

Investigators were still establishing a motive, but it appeared the daughter was out late on the weekend.

The situation was being treated by investigators as a "crime of honour," said police Const. Olivier Lapointe.

"It's because of the elements that we got from witnesses from the interrogation that leads us to believe that the motive of the attack was the situation with the daughter," Lapointe said. "Her behaviour that didn't fit what the family wanted."

The woman's husband and the couple's three other daughters were in the house at the time of the stabbing.

The three children are now in the custody of youth protection services.

Kaleki faces charges of attempted murder, assault and possession of a weapon.

During the court hearing Monday, the woman's husband stood and addressed the judge.

"Please sir, my wife is innocent," said Ebrahim Ebrahimi, before being ordered to sit down.

Psychiatric evaluation ordered

Kaleki was ordered to undergo a psychiatric evaluation at the request of her lawyer, who said the woman had suffered a temporary lapse in her mental capacity at the time of the incident.The stabbing happened in a home in Dorval on Montreal's West Island. (CBC)

"We asked to see if the person is fit to stand trial and if they're responsible for their acts," said defence lawyer Tom Pentefountas.

At the request of the Crown, Kaleki was ordered not to communicate with her husband.

An honour crime in some cultures implies the "notion that if somebody tries to bring dishonour to the family, that person should be eliminated in order to restore the name of the family back, or restore the honour back," said psychiatrist Dr. Amin Muhammad of Memorial University in St. John's.

"If their children would adopt the western ways of life, that would come in direct conflict with their own cultural mindset and their own perceived norms," he said.

Muhammad, whose area of expertise is transcultural psychology, said this is the 13th case documented in Canada. According to the United Nations, 5,000 women are killed in such incidents each year, he said.

Usually, he said, it is a male relative — including a husband, father or brother — who is the perpetrator.

Kaleki is expected to return to court in mid-July.