Murder victim feared husband after filing for divorce: court docs
CBC
WARNING: This story contains details of domestic abuse.
Three months before her death, Kamaljit Sandhu filed for divorce after enduring years of domestic violence.
Her husband — Inderjit Singh Sandhu — was in India at the time.
Kamaljit Sandhu, who lives in Abbotsford, a city about 70 kilometres east of Vancouver in B.C.'s Fraser Valley, got a protection order. In an affidavit, she claimed she was afraid the 50-year-old "would harm her when he became aware of the court proceedings."
It wasn't long before those fears would prove prophetic.
A B.C. Supreme Court judge sentenced Inderjit Singh Sandhu to life in prison without the possibility of parole for 13 years for second-degree murder earlier this month after he pleaded guilty to killing his wife.
Justice Dev Dley's reasons were only released this week, highlighting both the bigger issue of domestic violence and one woman's failed struggle to escape her abuser.
"It is apparent that the death has caused immense hurt, distress, and a painful loss to friends and family," Dley said.
"The children are left without a mother with whom they had a loving and enduring bond ... The children do not wish to have any contact with their father. This family is forever shattered, all because of Mr. Sandhu's selfish and senseless violence."
Kamajit Sandhu's murder on July 28, 2022, sent shock waves through the city of Abbotsford as well as the branch of the Royal Bank of Canada where she worked.
According to the judgment, Sandhu had requested time off to consult with a lawyer in the months before she was killed, advising her manager she was considering separating from her husband.
The couple met in India and married in 1999; one year later, Kamaljit Sandhu sponsored Inderjit Singh Sandhu's immigration to Canada, where the couple raised two children, aged 23 and 18.
"During the marriage, there had been concerns of domestic violence," Dley wrote.
In 2006, police responded to complaints of yelling and screaming at the couple's home, noting injuries to Kamaljit Sandhu's face when they arrived.
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