Indian jury out again in 'honour killing' trial
A jury retired for a fifth day today to consider its verdicts in the case of a grey-haired grandmother accused of ordering the execution of her daughter-in-law.
Bachan Athwal, 70, who has sixteen grandchildren, is alleged to have arranged for Heathrow Customs officer Surjit Athwal, aged 27, to “disappear off the surface of the earth”.
Surjit, who was originally from Coventry, did not return from a trip to India with Bachan and relatives said she had been strangled by a male relative and thrown into a river.
Bachan and her son, Surjit’s husband Sukhdave Athwal, aged 43, both of Hayes, west London, deny murder and conspiring with others to commit murder.
Surjit was last seen in December 1998. The prosecution at the Old Bailey said the family honour had been at stake when it was discovered she had been having an affair.
Policeman’s widow Bachan denies planning the killing. She said: “I didn’t make any plans. Nothing of the sort took place in our family.”
She said she got on well with Surjit, who was like her own daughter.
Sukhdave, a Heathrow bus driver, reported his wife missing and later re-married.
He told the court he knew nothing about her disappearance.
