Unfaithful British mother sentenced to death by hanging for murdering her husband
An unfaithful British mother sentenced to death in India for murdering her husband had laced a biryani she cooked for him with sedatives and slit his throat as he slept so that she could inherit £2million from his life insurance policy, a court heard.
Ramandeep Kaur Mann, 38, from Derby, was found guilty of murdering her husband Sukhjit Singh, 34, while they were on holiday at his mother’s house in India in September 2016.
She now faces the prospect of being hanged for the killing, which was witnessed by their eldest son Arjun who was aged nine at the time and gave evidence in court against his mother.
Mann mixed sleeping pills into a biryani she made for Mr Singh and their two children, which was his favourite dish.
But it was only eaten by him and their youngest son, Aryan aged six at the time and not by his older brother, who said he was not hungry.
After Mr Singh fell into a deep sleep, she allowed her lover Gurpreet Singh into the home.
He then hit him over the head with a hammer and handed her a knife, with which she slit her husband’s throat.
Her trial at a court in Shahjahanpur, north India heard that Mann’s affair with Gurpreet, who was her husband’s childhood friend, started during a family holiday to Dubai in November 2015.
Gurpreet lived there and spent time with Mr Singh and his family when they visited, showing them around the country and accompanying them on day trips to the dessert as the two pals reconnected after not seeing each other for several years.
They grew up together in Shahjahanpur but Mr Singh moved to the UK in 2002, where his sister also lives while Gurpreet went to Dubai to work in construction and trucking.
Mr Singh and Mann married in the UK in 2005 after meeting in Slough, where they both lived at the time. They then moved to South London and then to Derby.
But behind his best friend’s back, and despite the happy time all appeared to have had during their Dubai get together as they rode camels and enjoyed picnics, Gurpreet’s illicit affair with Mann continued when they left the Gulf country.
They regularly exchanged WhatsApp messages and telephone calls, many of which were produced in court.
Ashok Khanna, lawyer for Mr Singh’s family told MailOnline: ‘This disgusting crime was being plotted by Mann while she was in the UK and Gurpreet in Dubai. Gurpreet was like her husband’s brother, they were very close. His family still can’t believe that he betrayed them like this.
‘Mann has not shown any remorse and has been very arrogant from the moment she was arrested. She deserves this punishment because this is a woman who drugged her own husband and children so that she could kill him. Who does that kind of thing?’
He added: ‘But it wasn’t just wanting to be with Gurpreet that motivated her. She also stood to make a lot of money from his death.’
A court judgment stated that Mann stood to benefit from a life insurance policy that was in Mr Singh’s name, a home the couple owned in the UK and property and money he had in India.
Following his killing, his old friend Gurpreet was arrested hours later at Delhi airport as he attempted to board a flight to Dubai.
Mann was detained at her mother-in-law’s home with police in India revealing that they suspected her from the outset. A bloody knife used for the murder was found in bushes close to where she was staying.
Superintendent Ashok Kumar Meena of Shahjahanpur Police, who led the investigation told MailOnline: ‘This couple decided to murder Mr Singh in India because they believed that they could get away with it here, thinking that our judiciary and police system is not as good as the UK. They lured him to India to his death.
Upon hearing her sentence, Mann screamed that she was being ‘framed’ by her dead husband’s relatives and protested her innocence. In police interviews she also claimed that Mr Singh had refused to give her a divorce.
According to sources, she has spent an estimated £100,000 on legal fees and also had to sell her home in Derby to help raise funds.
She is currently being held in Shahjahnpur District Jail where she will remain until the outcome of her appeal, which could take several years.