London:
An NRI man, accused of murdering his wife earlier this month, has been charged by British police.
Manas Kapoor, 34, is suspected of strangling his wife, Shivani, at their home in Northwood, north London.
According to reports, the accused had called the emergency services on July 10 to say that his wife was lying on the floor unconscious and was not breathing.
She was rushed to hospital by paramedics and was found to have suffered severe brain injuries due to lack of oxygen. She died on July 12.
Two days later, a post-mortem report found that her brain injury was caused as a result of compression of the neck or possible strangling.
Manas was arrested by Scotland Yard and will be in custody until he appears at the Old Bailey court in London for a case hearing on October 2.
Meanwhile, Shivani's family has been fighting for the custody of her 18-month-old daughter Vania.
The death of the 35-year-old paediatric occupational therapist, who worked at Northwick Park Hospital in London, has now kicked off a major Facebook campaign to raise funds for legal fees needed for the custody battle.
"Shivani's crestfallen parents and brother have travelled from India and have already spent two weeks in London waiting for her body to be handed over for them to perform the last rites honourably," writes Rajni Agarwal, a friend of the victim who is spearheading the 'Justice for Shivani' campaign on social media.
"During the last few weeks, there has been no contribution from Manas' family towards Vania's upbringing and care. However, they are now insisting that Vania be uprooted from everything she is familiar and comfortable with and moved up to Glasgow - a city she has never been to, with a family she doesn't know.
As Vania is not a British citizen, she is not entitled to any legal aid by the UK government; nor is the Indian High Commission willing to offer any financial support. The legal fee is going to be substantial," her appeal adds.
Shivani's friends have hired a lawyer to take the case forward and have raised just under 10,000 pounds of an estimated total cost of up to 30,000 pounds.
"Shivani's parents lost all hope and felt extremely disheartened as this is beyond their financial means, but we have decided that we will carry on supporting them in this fight for justice," says another friend Ruchira Bhalla.