London, Nov 18 (IANS) Police were reported to have arrested the estranged India-born husband of a young British Punjabi woman who died Monday after being found on the streets of a London suburb with a severed hand.
In a shocking case that could be the result of an ‘honour killing’, Geeta Aulakh, a receptionist at Britain’s biggest Asian radio station Sunrise Radio, died in hospital hours after being found Monday evening lying on a street in the west London neighbourhood of Greenford.
Aulakh, 28, had a head wound and her right hand was severed from her arm, police said amid speculation Wednesday that she was a victim of ‘honour killing’ – a practice that occurs predominantly among Sikh and Muslim communities.
Aulakh was attacked Monday evening, shortly after leaving work in Southall to pick up her two children, aged eight and nine, and was found by a shocked passerby a short distance from the front door of her childminder.
Her husband, from whom she was separated, was among six people who were arrested. British police do not name suspects until they are charged.
Police are investigating several theories behind the murder, including jealousy, access to Aulakh’s children or bringing dishonour on the family, British newspapers said.
Speculation that Aulakh was a victim of honour killing mounted after a friend revealed that it was Geeta’s right hand – which wears the ‘kara’ – that was cut off.
‘It’s horrific but hugely symbolic that Geeta’s right hand was cut off… The kara is a permanent reminder to live a moral and good life and once it’s on you can’t get it off,’ the Daily Mail quoted a friend as saying.
‘So her murderer was both dishonouring her and perhaps trying to show she had been dishonourable – which is just barbaric.’
But friends said her husband was devastated when Geeta left and was trying to win his wife back.
The case has shocked the bustling west London suburbs of Greenford, where Geeta Aulakh lived, and Southall, where she worked. The two neighbourhoods border each other and are home to London’s largest communities of Punjabis.
Sunrise Radio Chairman Avtar Lit said Geeta married Harpreet Aulakh against her parents’ wishes and that the couple went away to Sweden for a year.
‘I only found out today that he (Harpreet) wanted her back. That was the kind of person Geeta was, she held everything inside. She was a lovely girl, intelligent and hardworking, cheerful, happy and always smiling. She was very grounded and displayed the best of East and Western values,’ Lit said.
‘You report this sort of thing but you never expect to report your colleague like this. It’s an absolute shock to everyone,’ said Seema Sidha, a news producer at Sunrise Radio and one of the last people to see Geeta Aulakh alive.
Acting detective chief inspector Andy Chalmers said: ‘When the victim was found we know that a lot of people were in the street and that several people may have tried to administer first aid before the police or ambulance arrived.
‘These people left the scene before speaking to police and I would ask that anyone who was there, or anyone else who has information about the incident, call us in the strictest of confidence.’
Anyone with information has been asked to call the London incident room on 020 8358 0200 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
