Indian buried alive by ex-boyfriend in Australia

Melbourne, July 6

In a horrific act of vengeance, a 21-year-old Indian nursing student in Australia was abducted by her ex-boyfriend from India, driven nearly 650 km and buried alive in South Australia state’s remote Flinders Ranges, a court has heard.

Abducted from workplace

Jasmeen Kaur was abducted from her workplace on March 5, 2021, and driven more than 644 km while bound with cable ties in the boot of a car

Jasmeen Kaur from Adelaide was killed by Tarikjot Singh in March 2021, a month after she reported him to the police for stalking.

Jasmeen was abducted from her workplace on March 5 and driven more than 644 km while bound with cable ties in the boot of a car Tarikjot had borrowed from his flatmate, websites reported on Wednesday.

Uncommon level of cruelty

The way in which Jasmeen was killed involved an uncommon level of cruelty. Carmen Matteo, prosecutor

He buried Jasmeen in a shallow grave after making “superficial” cuts to her throat which were not enough to kill her and she was aware of her surroundings when she died at some point on March 6. Tarikjot pleaded guilty to the murder, but the horrific details of his crime came to light during sentencing submissions at the Supreme Court.

Prosecutor Carmen Matteo said Jasmeen was “made to suffer”. Jasmeen’s family, including her mother, was in the court to hear the sentencing submissions. Tarikjot planned the killing because he was unable to get over the breakdown of their relationship.

“The way in which Jasmeen was killed involved an uncommon level of cruelty. It’s not known when her throat was cut, it’s not known when or how she got into or was placed into that burial grave, and it’s not known when that was dug,” Matteo said.

Tarikjot wrote several messages to Jasmeen in the lead-up to her death that he never ended up sending. “Your bad luck that I am still alive, cheap, wait and watch, will get the answer, each and every single one will get the answer,” one message said.

Tarikjot initially denied murder, saying Jasmeen had committed suicide and that he had buried the body, but pleaded guilty before he was due to stand trial earlier this year.

He took officers to her burial site where they found Jasmeen’s shoes, glasses and work name badge in a bin, alongside looped cable ties.

He faces a mandatory life sentence, with the court to impose a non-parole period next month. His lawyer wants him to be given a more merciful sentence, partly because they labelled it a “crime of passion”.