UK TV to air Sikh woman’s murder story

LONDON: A high-profile killing of a British Sikh woman who was taken to India by her Uk-based family and then killed in Punjab over 20 years ago is set to be revived as a television documentary this week.

Surjit Kaur Athwal was perceived as bringing shame on her conservative Sikh in-laws from west London and taken to Punjab in December 1998 on the pretext of attending family weddings, where she was killed.

The 27-year-old’s mother-inlaw Bachan Athwal and husband Sukhdave Athwal were sentenced to prison terms of 15 years and 20 years, respectively, for their role in her murder in 2007.

“She will (Bachan) be out in around three years. The thought makes me ill. She will still be welcomed in the Sikh community, meanwhile, I am in exile for turning on the family,” said Sarbjit Athwal, one of the key witnesses in the murder trial who has since divorced her husband — Sukhdave’s brother.

As Surjit’s sister-in-law, Sarbjit had been her friend and confidante and is one of the key people interviewed as part of ‘The Killer in my Family’ documentary to be aired on Thursday.

The series recounts the story of some of the high-profile murders in the UK from the perspective of those who knew the murderer best – their family.

Surjit didn’t want to marry Sukhdave and was pretty much pushed into it by her family.

She had hoped, because of Bachan’s false niceness at the beginning, the marriage would be bearable, but it was a nightmare,” recalled 49-year-old Sarbjit.