Murder of Surjit Athwal
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Surjit Kaur Athwal was a British Indian woman murdered in an honour killing in India in 1998. She was 27 at the time.[1]
Surjit Kaur Athwal | |
|---|---|
| Born | |
| Occupation | Customs agent at London Heathrow Airport |
| Known for | Being the victim of an honour killing in India |
According to the Coventry Telegraph this case involved the first conviction, in a British court, of an honour killing committed outside of the UK.[2]
Background
Athwal was born in Coventry, England,[3] and resided in the Foleshill suburb.[2] She married Sukhdave Singh Athwal when she was 16 and he was about 26, in a forced marriage.[4] Sukhdave and his family were Sikh.[5] Surjit, residing with her husband in Hayes, London Borough of Hillingdon,[3] was employed at London Heathrow Airport as a customs agent by HM Customs and Excise, and she had two children.[5]
Crime
After seeking divorce, her mother-in-law, Bachan Kaur Athwal, said that her family would allow a divorce if she agreed to attend two weddings in India; Surjit Kaur decided on 4 December 1998 to travel to India,[4] specifically to Punjab.[3] She never returned to the UK on the scheduled return date, 18 December of that year. Bachan and Sukhdave had in fact conspired to have her murdered in India.[4] The body, deposited in the Ravi River, was never discovered.[5]
Investigation, sentencing and aftermath
Surjit's sister-in-law, Sarbjit Athwal, sought to have the people who conspired to kill Surjit prosecuted. She contacted British authorities in the 1990s, but they took no action. In 2005 British authorities re-opened the murder case and had evidence gathered in India.[4]
English courts convicted Bachan and Sukhdave Athwal of offenses. Bachan was given a life sentence with a minimum tariff of 20 years; Karen McVeigh of The Guardian stated that Bachan was "one of the oldest women in criminal history to be jailed for life."[5] Sukhdave received a life sentence.[5] 2009 appeals against the convictions failed.[4] As of 2007[update] social service organisations had custody of Surjit's children.[5]
Surjit's brother, in 2013, was seeking for the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) of India to collect evidence that allows Indian authorities to prosecute the people in India who directly killed Surjit.[3]
Donal McIntyre, a journalist covering the criminal sphere, made a documentary about the case.[6]
See also
Honour killings in India:
Honour killings in the United Kingdom:
References
- ^ Singh, Manpreet K (2018-08-24). "'It's decided, we must kill her'". SBS Punjabi. Retrieved 2019-12-16.
- ^ a b Eccleston, Ben (2018-04-11). "Coventry honour killing: Surjit Athwal's family make fresh calls for public inquiry". Coventry Telegraph. Retrieved 2019-12-17.
- ^ a b c d Taneja, Poonam (2013-07-16). "Surjit Athwal murder: Brother wants 'justice for honour killing'". BBC. Retrieved 2019-12-16.
- ^ a b c d e Keeley, James (September 2017). "Breaking the silence". Counsel Magazine. Retrieved 2019-12-16.
- ^ a b c d e f McVeigh, Karen (2007-09-20). "Woman, 70, and her son get life for 'honour killing' of daughter-in-law". The Guardian. Retrieved 2019-12-16.
- ^ Eccleston, Ben (2018-04-11). "Coventry honour killing: Who was Surjit Athwal and what happened to her?". Coventry Telegraph. Retrieved 2019-12-17.
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