August 2023 would be a turning point in the life of this 24-year-old woman. She was to be married and would soon move to London, where her soon-to-be husband worked at a security firm.
His family was from Jhajjar. She was from a small middle-class family in Southwest Delhi. Her father was a driver, her mother a housewife. Her older sister is married.
The couple’s court wedding was solemnised that year to initiate her visa proceedings for the move she was looking forward to. Her husband left for the UK in October 2023. On March 22 last year, he flew back down, and the couple had a wedding as per Hindu rituals in New Delhi.
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And when he returned to London on April 30, 2024, his wife was by his side. They lived in a house in Corby, London.
The fact that she was new to town did not hinder her from finding work in a firm’s administration department. Her father said, “She was always determined to be self-sufficient, which is why the first thing she did was take up a job there.”
Everything seemed to be falling in place. Her 25th birthday was eight months away — on Christmas Day — and she was looking forward to the festivities.
Soon, the first red flag popped up — her husband was not who she thought she was. He didn’t work in a company but was a security guard.
By August, her life started to unravel.
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On the 29th of that month, a stranger allegedly spotted the woman, battered, fleeing the house as her husband chased her on the street. Reports in UK-based newspapers mention that she filed a domestic violence complaint against him. She was given police protection and moved out of the home she lived in with her husband. The man was arrested.
When her family found out, they asked her to return to India. “But she told us she had to stay there to see the complaint through,” her father said.
Over the next few months, her family said she made efforts to work things out.
Fast forward to November 10. It was the last time her parents would speak to her over a video call. She hung up soon, saying her husband was coming over and she was making dinner.
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Three days later, on November 14, her body would be found in the boot of her husband’s car at Brisbane Road in East London. A post-mortem examination at the Leicester Royal Infirmary showed she’d been strangled.
The Northamptonshire Police listed the husband as their main suspect, but he had already left the country by then.
On November 11, at 8.30 pm, he boarded a flight bound for Mumbai at Heathrow Airport. From Mumbai, he took another flight to Delhi, this being a one-way ticket, the Delhi and UK Police wrote in their reports submitted to the court. The UK Police, in their report, claimed he fled the country to avoid justice for the offence.
Back in Delhi, the woman’s family filed a complaint alleging a dowry death among other claims. An FIR was lodged and, on March 14, the man’s parents were arrested. His sister and two relatives — including a Delhi Police officer, who was later suspended — were asked to join the probe; they were later granted anticipatory bail by the Delhi High Court.
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The man’s mother is now out on bail, his father remains in judicial custody.
The man himself was spotted at a bank in Gurgaon, withdrawing money, in March. The Delhi Police had earlier issued a Look Out Circular (LOC) against the husband and declared him a Proclaimed Offender (PO) on May 1.
But the search for the husband has led nowhere.
In their latest update on the case shared with The Indian Express on April 1, a Northamptonshire Police spokesman said: “Charges have been laid in this case and, as such, legal proceedings are active, therefore, we cannot make any further comment at this time.”
In London, he has been charged with two counts of rape, sexual assault, and controlling or coercive behaviour.
The domestic violence case
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A report submitted by the Delhi Police to the Delhi High Court talks about the domestic violence case filed by the woman.
It shows that after the domestic violence complaint, a Domestic Violence Protection Order (DVPO) was issued, which ended on October 1.
On September 4, the victim was informed about her husband’s arrest and bail conditions. An event log maintained by the UK Police shows that on September 16, the officer in charge of handling the case contacted the woman and shared his number.
The next day, the woman contacted the officer; she wanted to withdraw her allegations and return to her husband. She asked when she could speak to her husband, the document states, but was told that the protection order was still in effect.
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On September 18, police put a marker on the man’s car. Officers then went to the shelter home where the woman was staying for a welfare check and advised her not to contact her husband for her safety, as per the document.
On September 20, the shelter informed the police that she had left of her own accord and moved into a flatshare near her workplace.
On October 3, the document stated, the victim contacted the Northamptonshire Police and asked if she could speak to her husband again. She was informed that a sergeant would review the case and was reminded of safety advice.
On October 24, as per the document, arrangements were made to take a statement from the woman, that she was withdrawing the allegations when an interpreter was available.
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On October 27, police contacted her via telephone and said that due to a lack of resources, this meeting would need to be rescheduled.
On November 4, police attempted to contact the woman by phone and left a voicemail.
On November 9, police visited the new address, but she was not there. Neighbours reported that she had moved out two weeks ago.
On November 12, police contacted her yet again and arranged to meet her at Corby Police Station two days later.
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The UK Police have initiated an inquiry against the officers handling the woman’s case to ascertain if there were lapses in the handling of the case.
In March, Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) Director Derrick Campbell said, “After assessment of the evidence to date, we have served disciplinary notices to four Northamptonshire Police officers, two at the level of gross misconduct and two for potential misconduct. The gross misconduct notices against two detective constables cover alleged failings to progress enquiries and communicate with the victim after her report of domestic abuse at the end of August 2024. The misconduct notices on two more senior officers relate to their supervision of the case and relevant risk assessments.”
“Such notices advise officers that they are subject to investigation and do not necessarily mean any disciplinary proceedings will follow. At the end of the investigation, decisions will be taken as to whether any officer has a disciplinary case to answer,” Campbell said.
No closure
Back home in Delhi, the 24-year-old’s family continues to wait for justice.
The woman’s sister, who has been shuttling between her maternal and in-laws’ homes, recalls every moment she spent with her sister.
“When she was in pre-school, she would return home every day calling out to me in excitement… ‘Ohnia Ohnia’!’… she wanted to play… it became a daily ritual.”
She fondly remembers her sister’s little tantrums.
“She would cry each time she was asked to do her homework. It was when she was in Class 11 that she started to shine in her studies,” her sister says.
The woman would follow in her sister’s footsteps — she went to the same school, did the same course in college. The sister said she was good at Maths but took up Hindi (Honours) — because that was what she studied.
“Sab kuch usse mere jaise karna tha (she wanted to do everything I did). I just wish she were as bold and outspoken as I am… maybe things would have been different… she was kind, soft-spoken, extremely caring — that’s why her husband took advantage of her,” she exclaims in anger.
Her father says after his ‘Sweety’ — that’s what he fondly called her — was murdered, everything changed.
“What does a parent want?” he asks. “That their kids remain happy and healthy.”
“As parents, we spend our entire lives ensuring our children are brought up well, get settled, and lead a happy life. What I got in the end was her body and a battle for justice that’s still ongoing.”
“Every day after I woke up, the first thing I would do was to light a lamp at the mandir (shrine) in our house,” the father says. After what happened to his daughter, his faith is shaken. He doesn’t light the lamp anymore.
“Mann nahi karta ab (I just don’t feel like it anymore),” he says. “I want the accused behind bars — and everyone else in his family who harboured him.”