An unfaithful British mother sentenced to death in India for murdering her husband had laced a biryani she cooked for him with sedatives and slit his throat while he slept so she could inherit £2 million from his life insurance policy, a court heard.
Ramandeep Kaur Mann, 38, from Derby, was found guilty of murdering her husband Sukhjit Singh, 34, while they were on holiday at his mother’s home in India in September 2016.
She now faces the prospect of being hanged for the murder, which was witnessed by their eldest son Arjun, who was nine years old at the time and gave evidence in court against his mother.
Mann mixed sleeping pills into a biryani she made for Mr Singh and their two children, which was his favorite dish.
But it was eaten only by him and their youngest son, Aryan, who was six at the time, and not by his older brother, who said he was not hungry.
British mother Ramandeep Kaur Mann (pictured) sentenced to death in India for killing her husband so she could inherit £2 million from his life insurance policy
The murder was witnessed by their eldest son Arjun, who was nine years old at the time. Pictured: Sukhjit Singh and Ramandeep Kaur Mann
After Mr Singh fell into a deep sleep, she let her lover Gurpreet Singh into the house.
He then hit him on the head with a hammer and handed her a knife, with which she slit her husband’s throat.
During her trial at a court in Shahjahanpur, northern India, she heard that Mann’s affair with Gurpreet, her husband’s childhood friend, began during a family holiday to Dubai in November 2015.
Gurpreet lived there and spent time with Mr Singh and his family when they visited. He showed them around the country and accompanied them on day trips to the desert when the two friends reconnected after not seeing each other for several years.
They grew up together in Shahjahanpur, but Mr Singh moved to Britain in 2002, where his sister also lives, while Gurpreet went to Dubai to work in construction and trucking.
Mr Singh and Mann married in Britain in 2005 after meeting in Slough, where they both lived at the time. They then moved to South London and then to Derby.
But behind his best friend’s back, and despite the happy time everyone seemed to have had during their meeting in Dubai, riding camels and enjoying picnics, Gurpreet’s illicit affair with Mann continued as they left the Gulf country.
They regularly exchanged WhatsApp messages and phone calls, many of which were produced in court.
Gurpreet Singh (pictured), a childhood friend of Sukhjeet, was sentenced to life imprisonment with a fine of £260,000
Ramandeep Kaur Mann now faces hanging for the murder
Her trial at a court in Shahjahanpur, northern India, heard that Mann’s affair with her husband’s childhood friend Gurpreet began during a family holiday to Dubai in November 2015.
And as the secret long-distance romance continued, Mann began to consider how to get out of the marriage, leading her to suggest that they visit Mr Singh’s mother for a month in September 2016 and that Gurpreet join them too would add.
Ashok Khanna, lawyer for Singh’s family, told MailOnline: ‘This disgusting crime was plotted by Mann while she was in Britain and Gurpreet in Dubai. Gurpreet looked like her husband’s brother, they were very close. His family still can’t believe he betrayed them this way.
‘Mann has shown no remorse whatsoever and has been very arrogant from the moment she was arrested. She deserves this punishment because this is a woman who drugged her own husband and children so she could kill him. Who does something like that?’
He added, “But it wasn’t just the desire to be with Gurpreet that motivated her. She would also make a lot of money from his death.’
According to a court ruling, Mann would benefit from a life insurance policy in Mr Singh’s name, a house the couple owned in Britain and property and money he had in India.
After his murder, his old friend Gurpreet was arrested hours later at Delhi airport while trying to board a flight to Dubai.
Mann was held at her mother-in-law’s home, while police in India revealed they suspected her from the start. A bloody knife used in the murder was found in bushes near where she was staying.
Senior Inspector Ashok Kumar Meena of Shahjahanpur Police, who led the investigation, told MailOnline: ‘This couple decided to kill Mr Singh in India because they believed they could get away with it, because they thought our judicial and police system is not as good as the Great Britain. They lured him to India, where he died.
Devout Sikh Sukhjit Singh (left), 34, father-of-two from Derby, Derbyshire, was found in bed with his throat slit
Ramandeep Kaur Mann, 38, from Derby, was found guilty of murdering her husband Sukhjeet Singh, 34, (pictured together) while they were on holiday at his mother’s home in India in 2016
‘MaNn was our prime suspect from the moment this crime took place. We had a number of key witnesses, the most important of which was her own son.’
The most dramatic moment of the trial occurred when Mann’s eldest son Arjun, now 16, stood in the dock to testify against her.
He described how his mother was sleeping in bed next to his father when he woke up to find her smothering him with a pillow.
Since he had not eaten the biryani laced with sleeping pills, the sound of his father struggling for breath led him to stand up and witness the gruesome events.
The youngster described how his mother sat on top of Mr Singh and that he saw Gurpreet then hit him on the head with a hammer, followed by Mann slitting his throat.
According to court sources at the time, Mann sat expressionless in the courtroom as she heard her son’s harrowing testimony while Gurpreet stared at the ground.
After Mr Singh’s murder, legal proceedings took place in Britain over who would get custody of the couple’s sons.
Despite pleas from Mann’s family that it should be them, the prize was awarded to their paternal uncle and aunt, with whom the two boys now live in London.
Lawyers for Mann have appealed her death sentence, claiming the judge incorrectly applied the law when he handed it to her.
Despite being her accomplice, Gurpreet was spared the death penalty after being found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment with a fine of 300,000 rupees (£3,000).
Mann mixed sleeping pills into a biryani she made for Mr Singh and their two children, which was his favorite dish
Lawyers for Mann have appealed her death sentence, claiming the judge incorrectly applied the law when he handed it to her.
When Mann heard her verdict, she shouted that she was being “set up” by her late husband’s relatives and protested her innocence. In police interviews, she also claimed that Mr Singh had refused to grant her a divorce.
According to sources, she spent an estimated £100,000 on legal fees and also had to sell her house in Derby to raise money.
She is currently being held in Shahjahnpur District Jail, where she will remain until the outcome of her appeal, which could take several years.
Raj Kamal, a lawyer at India’s Supreme Court who previously represented Mann, said: ‘In my opinion the death sentence is very harsh and does not meet the legal criteria. These are usually given in the “rarest of the rare” cases.
“But what hasn’t helped Mann is the fact that her own child testified against her and her behavior in court. She has shown no remorse and has also abused her mother-in-law. The judge took all this into account, along with the fact that she was having an affair and was driven by financial reasons. But this does not mean she should have received a death sentence.”