Nikita Chawla Murder: Killer husband jailed for 22 years

Must Read

A Melbourne man who stabbed his wife to death in a jealous rage then calmly asked emergency services to come and collect her body has been jailed for 22 years in an “extreme case of domestic violence”.

Nikita Chawla, 23, a dancer and choreographer, had just finished her final exams in a performing arts degree when Parminder Singh, 30, savagely murdered her with a meat cleaver in their Brunswick West home on 9 January 2015.

Singh was ordered to serve a minimum of 17 years by the Victorian supreme court justice Lex Lasry on Thursday after he pleaded guilty in October to murdering the woman he had secretly married.

Singh was preoccupied with jealousy and betrayal and showed no significant remorse for what he had done, Lasry said.

The killing was an exercise in control to ensure Chawla did not share her life with anyone else.

The couple had secretly married in September 2011 but by January of this year their relationship had deteriorated and Chawla had decided to leave.

In March, Singh went through Chawla’s phone while she was sleeping and discovered messages she had sent to a man she was working with.

He attacked her in a jealous rage before calling triple zero and asking emergency services to collect her body.

An autopsy report confirms that Niki’s killer attacked her in her sleep. The killer chopped and stabbed her head, face and neck with a meat cleaver at least 35 times. Niki was terrorised and defenceless. The killer then dialled emergency services and asked for someone to ‘collect the dead body‘ before going for a walk and abandoning Niki’s dead body.

Her injuries were so extensive that when I had to identify her body at the Coroner’s Court, the medical staff were only able to show me a quarter of her face because the rest had been hacked away with a meat cleaver. They apologised and said, ‘Sorry, there’s nothing more to see and her face has changed shape from her injuries.’

“Alarmingly your end of the conversation was conducted in a calm, detached voice,” Lasry said in sentencing on Thursday.

After his arrest, Singh told police he had suffered a sort of “blackout” and had seen photos on Chawla’s phone.

Lasry said Singh did not seem to understand that nothing that happened in the days leading up to the killing could excuse what he did and that he acted with some degree of vengeance and control.

The crime was an extreme example of domestic violence.

“You murdered someone you professed to love,” Lasry said. “You murdered someone who was entirely entitled to end her marriage with you.”

Nikita family lodges petition against inadequate sentence

Meanwhile, not satisfied with the sentence of Parminder Singh, Nikita’s relative Sarang Chawla has lodged an online petition to appeal against inadequate sentence. He beleives that Her killer could be free in 17 years. Justice Lasry’s sentence for such a brutal, callous murder that His Honour stated was an act of “vengeance and control” is manifestly inadequate.

- Advertisement -

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

- Advertisement -

Latest News

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Resigns amid Trump Pressure

KEY SUMMARY POINTS: Source says Trudeau is likely to announce resignation but no final decision has been made Trudeau...

More Articles Like This

- Advertisement -