A rebellious Sikh strangled his brother’s wife to

A rebellious Sikh strangled his brother’s wife to death just hours after their final romp, the Old Bailey heard today.

Armjit Kulkarni, 23, throttled mother-of-two Pal Kaur Dhal, 27, with his bare hands after their illicit affair erupted into violence, it was claimed.

And straight after the cold-blooded killing Kulkarni is said to have then gone to lunch with his older brother – Mrs Dhal’s husband.

Kulkarni, who rejects the traditional turban in favour of an American-style bandanna, then raised the alarm himself.

But when Kulkarni was arrested on the same day he claimed that there had been no relationship with Mrs Dhal.

And he insisted that it was considered wrong by Sikh law for a man to even look into the eyes of his brother’s wife.

But DNA analysis discovered patches of Kulkarni’s saliva mingled with his victim’s on the inside of her bra.

Kulkarni’s semen was also found on Mrs Dhal’s clothing and the sheets of her bed.

He has now admitted the affair but maintains that he did not kill his older brother’s wife.

The court was told how Kulkarni and Mrs Dhal moved to the UK in the late 1990s after civil strife broke out in their native Afghanistan.

Mrs Dhal moved into a home at (40) Cambourne Avenue in West Ealing with her husband Manmohan (corr) and their two young children.

And Kulkarni moved nearby to (47) The Green, Southall.

But the court heard that he would frequently stay the night with his brother’s family.

On the morning of Mrs Dhal’s death, Mr Ellison said her husband left their home at about 9.

30am and passed the day at a stall in Southall Broadway.

‘The defendant, who spent the previous night on the premises at Cambourne Avenue, took the two children to school at about 9 o’clock,’ said Mark Ellison, prosecuting.

‘For some time after this he was then alone with the deceased.

At lunch time, between 1 and 2pm they ate together and at 2.

45pm he left to pick up Mrs Dhal’s children from school.

‘But by this time Kulkarni had already killed Pal Dhal although he had made an effort to continue with the day as normally as possible.

‘

Kulkarni then raised the alarm himself by ringing first her husband and then the emergency services.

The defendant claimed that when he got home he found Pal Dhal dead on her bedroom floor.

He added that he then moved her body a little and wiped the blood from her face.

In police interview Kulkarni said a window was open and ‘he had begun to suggest that maybe an intruder had climbed in,’ Mr Ellison said.

‘The defendant mentioned that his relationship was quite normal as his brother also believed it to be and he said he had nothing to do with the killing.

‘But the truth was very different from what he claimed – there was no intruder that day.

‘He killed his sister-in-law in the context of a stormy relationship which culminated in her having sex with him just before her death.

‘

Mr Ellison told how in the days leading up to the killing numerous neighbours had allegedly witnessed the couple rowing as their deceitful relationship ran into trouble.

On one occasion Kulkarni was seen chasing Mrs Dhal up Cambourne Avenue, the jury heard.

Another time Kulkarni was allegedly seen trying to gain entry to a phone box but Mrs Dhal was keeping him out.

Mr Ellison also told how the rebellious stance which Kulkarni took against the traditional Sikh way of life led to him being partly ostracised by his community.

‘Kulkarni had become a little difficult, not least because he had broken with Sikh tradition by cutting off most of his beard and by his decision to no longer wear the traditional turban, preferring instead a sort of bandanna.

‘These things prevented some in the community from putting forward a partner for him.

There was friction over his (single) status,’ Mr Ellison added.

Kulkarni denies one charge of murder on September 27 last year and the trial continues.

ends

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