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Woman, son jailed for “honour killing”

LONDON: Nearly nine years after a young Sikh woman mysteriously disappeared while on a visit to India, her husband and mother-in-law were on Wednesday jailed for life for arranging her murder after it emerged that she was having an affair and wanted a divorce.

The body of the victim, Surjit Athwal (27), a customs officer at Heathrow airport, was never found and the mystery of her disappearance might have remained had her mother-in-law Bachan Athwal not happened to boast to her family that she got her brother to strangle Surjit and throw her body into a river.

Even then it took several years for the police to gather the necessary evidence to charge Bachan (70) and Sukhdave (43), both residents of west London. The delay was caused as Bachan’s relatives were initially frightened to come forward and give evidence.

Sentencing Bachan, a grandmother of 16, and Sukdave at the Old Bailey, Judge Giles Forrester told them: “The pair of you decided that the so-called honour of your family members was worth more than the life of this young woman. You, Bachan, were head of that family. I have no doubt you exercised a controlling influence over other family members.”

Bachan was ordered to serve at least 20 years in jail, and Sukhdave 27.

Speaking to reporters outside the court, Surjit’s brother, Jagdeesh Singh, said that after escaping justice for eight-and-a-half years, the two had been finally brought to book.

He called for a public inquiry into “lapses and failures” that led to delays.

“The long journey of Surjit’s case has exposed serious inadequacies in policing practice and government policy in the U.K. as well as in India where Surjit was murdered,” he said.

During the trial, the court was told that Surjit disappeared “off the surface of the earth” during a visit to Punjab to attend a family wedding in December 1998.

Prosecution said Bachan ordered Surjit’s death at a family meeting because she believed her daughter-in-law had violated family “honour”.

The case prompted calls for more stringent laws against “honour killings”.

Deputy Chief Inspector Clive Driscoll, who led the investigations, said: “For Surjit’s family and friends, the pain of losing her in such a cruel way will continue, but I hope they are comforted by the fact that her killers are now behind bars.”

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