NRI jailed for life for cold-blooded murder of wife

London - Cold and calculated murder of a young bride from Nawanshahr has resulted in her NRI husband being jailed for life by a British court.

Local media reports have focused on how bank employee Jasvir Ram Ginday (29) killed his wife because he was afraid that she would expose his homosexual preferences.

But little has been told about the promising future that beckoned for 24-year-old Varkha Rani, who had a master’s degree in Information Science and Technology and was the pride and joy of her loving family back in Nawanshahr.

Shortly after Ginday was convicted, Varkha’s cousin, Sunil Kumar said, “No words can truly express the sadness and hurt my family and I are experiencing at the loss of Varkha. She was loved dearly by all, she had a great passion for life and doted on her family.

“Varkha attained a master’s degree and was driven to make her life a success. Unfortunately, she fell prey to Ginday, who had ulterior motives which Varkha would not have appreciated.”

During his trial, members of the jury were told how UK-born Ginday had engaged in sexual relations with men long before his betrothal to 24-year-old Varkha whom he married in order to please his parents.

Varkha had no idea what to expect when she married Ginday last year. But a video taken on her wedding day last March, when she is seen dancing cheek-to-cheek with Ginday, shows her with excited, shining eyes as she prepares for a brand new life in the UK.

But the couple’s relationship started to turn sour only weeks after their wedding. Six months later police found Varkha’s skull, including a few teeth, and her wedding ring inside a mini furnace, or incinerator, bought and installed by her husband in the couple’s garden only a few weeks earlier.

It is understood that Ginday first strangled Varkha with the metal hose of a vacuum cleaner before dousing her body with petrol and stuffing it inside the furnace. For the next 48 hours he used a metal rod to poke and prod Varkha’s remains in a bid to facilitate the burning process.

Neighbours were alerted to the tragedy by the odd smell and thick smoke coming from the couple’s garden. When further investigations were carried out by police, Ginday told them he had been burning leaves. Later, in response to more questions about what was inside the furnace, he replied, “Its food.”

A few days earlier in an attempt to cover up his crime, Ginday filed a police report, saying his wife had taken 500 pounds and abandoned him following a furious marital row. This version of events was rejected by Judge John Warner during the trial at Wolverhampton Crown Court. He told Ginday, “It was a very cruel situation in which you put her.

“You have told lie after lie about a number of matters. It is impossible to rely on anything you say.

“I am satisfied that you intended to kill - you are a devious, controlling man and a meticulous planner in a number of aspects of your life. I do not know for sure how you killed her but the rest afterwards we do know.

“Killing her was a dreadful enough thing to have done, but what followed was horrible almost beyond imagining. “You behaved in an unbelievably casual and callous way with a complete lack of any humanity.

“No one who was in court to hear that evidence will easily put out of their minds, the image of her body being poked and prodded by you down into that incinerator.”