Sarbjit Kaur died from asphyxiation with speculation of her being killed because of a burglary gone wrong
Highlights
- Gurpreet Singh was charged for the murder of his wife, Sarbjit Kaur
- Police earlier suspected the murder was fallout of a robbery gone wrong
- Police officials said it was an "extremely rare" murder case
Nearly three months after an Indian-origin woman was found strangled in her house in the UK, her husband has been charged for murder. A case was filed against Gurpreet Singh, 42, by the West Midlands police on Wednesday. Singh was produced in court today for the murder of his wife, 38-year-old Sarbjit Kaur, reported news agency Press Trust of India. At the time his wife's body was found at their house in Wolverhampton city, the police suspected the murder was the fallout of a robbery gone wrong.
However, it later emerged that the businessman was the last person who had seen his wife alive earlier that day on February 16. A post mortem revealed Sarbjit Kaur had been strangled.
Police said the interior of their home was in an "untidy state", and looked like it had been searched by a robber. Police said some household items were missing.
Police officials had earlier said that a team of officers were working on the "extremely rare" murder case to establish the sequence of events that led to the crime and to find "the person or people responsible".
"This is a shocking case, the likes of which are extremely rare, and we have a team of officers working on this murder inquiry to establish what happened and to finding the person or people responsible," Detective Chief Inspector Chris Mallett from West Midlands Police's Homicide Team had said as part of a public appeal for information in February.
The detectives who are investigating the murder are looking for a woman who was allegedly caught on CCTV and images of which the police has released. The images of the mysterious woman, which were unclear and had to be digitally enhanced, were obtained from a camera near Ms Kaur's home.
Detectives visited around 500 properties and asked residents to complete questionnaires, including what they might have seen on the day of Ms Kaur's murder.
"Ms Kaur's family is devastated by her death and is still trying to come to terms with their loss; they need answers," said Mr Mallet.
Gurpreet Singh headed a business known as Dhanda Properties in Wolverhampton city, around 225 km from the United Kingdom's capital, London.
The motive of the crime is not yet clear.
(With Inputs From PTI)