NRI woman gets death penalty for murdering husband

“Of the total 17 prosecutions examined by the court, the witness of Ramandeep’s nine-year-old son Arjun Singh, the sole eyewitness of the incident, was crucial. Arjun explained to the court how his mother and Gurpreet killed his father in his sleep in their house,” said Shahjahanpur government counsel Shree Pal Verma.

On October 5, the court held Ramandeep and Gurpreet guilty, following which they were taken into custody — both were out on bail till then. The court held them guilty under IPC sections 302 (murder) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention), Verma said, adding that the court also held Gurpreet guilty under the Arms Act and sentenced him to three years of imprisonment along with imposing a fine of Rs 10,000.

Shahjahanpur District Government Counsel Anuj Kumar Singh said, “On Saturday, the court awarded the death sentence to Ramandeep and lifter to Gurpreet. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 3 lakh on Gurpreet.”
Defence counsel Brijesh Vaish, however, said that they would challenge the judgment in a higher court.

Sukhjeet was working as a driver in England when he came in contact with Ramandeep, a resident of Derby, and they got married in 2005. Gurpreet, a native of Punjab and also an NRI, is Sukhjeet’s old friend. Gurpreet was also doing a job in England.

Gurpreet used to regularly visit Sukhjeet’s house and got acquainted with Ramandeep.

According to the prosecution, in August 2016, Sukhjeet, his wife, and sons — Arjun Singh (then six-year-old) and Aryan — visited his native place Basantapur village in Shahjahanpur. Gurpreet came along. After a few days of stay at home, Sukhjeet and his family went on a pan-India tour. Gurpreet accompanied them.

After visiting several places, Sukhjeet along with his family returned to Shahjahanpur.

On the morning of September 2, 2016, Sukhjeet’s body was found lying in a pool of blood on the first floor of his house, where he was sleeping with his family. Sukhjeet’s mother Vansh Kaur was sleeping on the ground floor of the house.

Based on a complaint lodged by Vansh Kaur, a case was registered against unidentified persons on the murder charge at the Banda police station in Shahjahanpur.

Verma said, “During the investigation, it came to light that the woman was in a relationship with Gurpreet and they had planned to murder Sukhjeet. As per plan, on the evening of September 1, the woman mixed sedatives in the food. After having dinner, all family members went into deep sleep.” “According to the police investigation, Gurpreet entered the house after Ramandeep opened the gate late in the night. They hit Sukhjeet with a hammer on his head and slit his neck. Arjun, who had not had dinner that night woke up to the noise and witnessed the crime,” Verma said.

Arjun and Aryan have been staying at their aunt’s house in England, at present. “In his statement, Arjun told the court that on the night of September 1, he woke up to noise in the room and saw his mother sitting on his father’s body and smothering him (father) with a pillow. Gurpreet hit his father twice with a hammer on his head. As his father was still alive, Gurpreet took out a knife from his pocket. His mother took the knife from Gurpreet and slit his father’s throat,” Verma said.

Reacting to the verdict, Sukhjeet’s mother told reporters here, “I feel relieved. My prayers were answered and I got what I was expecting from the court. I was demanding capital punishment for Ramandeep so that no mother’s child dies like this.”