London, May 3
A Sikh customs officer at Heathrow airport was allegedly murdered by her mother-in-law and husband after they had lured her to India on the pretext of attending a family wedding, a court here has heard.

Surjit Kaur Athwal (27), mother of two, was allegedly strangled to death in India by her husband Sukhdave Athwal (42) and mother-in-law Bachan Athwal (68) in 1998.

“This matter came to light so late because some members of the family, who knew the truth, were frightened,” prosecutor Michael Worsley said.

“They were frightened that, if they told anybody, the same sort of thing might happen to them, as they believed happened to the victim,” he told the court.

Both Sukhdave and Bachan have denied the charge.

The court heard that tensions between Surjit, her husband and mother-in-law reached a breaking point when they discovered that she was having an affair with another customs officer and wanted a divorce, the Daily Mail reported.

Sukhdave’s family was concerned that Surjit was very westernised, cut her hair short, smoked cigarettes and drank alcohol, said sources.

Having resolved to get rid of her daughter-in-law, Bachan and Sukhdave devised a plan to get Surjit to India. Within a few days of arriving in India, she was allegedly murdered.

“Within a few days, she disappeared from the surface of earth,” said Worsley.

The crown suggests the circumstances are enough to say, first, that she is dead and, second, that she didn’t die of natural causes or disease or an accident, but died because she was killed and, in particular, strangled. — IANS