Death of woman may have been an 'honour killing'

Neighbours in a quiet east London street spoke of their horror yesterday at the murder of a heavily pregnant woman who was strangled in her living room.

Anita Gindha, 22, of Manor Park, was discovered last Wednesday by her husband, a builder, when he returned from work. Their 18-month-old son was in the room beside her, unharmed.

There were no indications the killing was racially or sexually motivated and there was no sign of a break-in.

One theory being investigated by police is that Mrs Gindha may have been the victim of an "honour killing" in the Sikh community.

Scotland Yard said detectives were trying to ascertain whether Mrs Gindha had previously rejected an offer of an arranged marriage.

Yesterday, as plain-clothes officers carried out door-to-door inquiries near the murder scene, religious leaders in the Sikh community were contemplating what might have gone wrong.

Harinder Singh, 47, the general secretary of the Sikh temple, Gurdwara Dasmesh Darbar, said he was profoundly worried at rumours of a growing number of honour killings which suggested inter-family acrimony.

"We do not yet know the details of this case but I would appeal as a religious leader to the Asian community not to take the law into their own hands,'' he said.

Mr Singh added that Sikh elders had met over the weekend to discuss Mrs Gindha's case and that great sadness had been expressed amongst his congregation. A further meeting has been scheduled for this Friday.

But Mr Singh said the police would have difficulty getting members of the community to help the inquiry. "We are appealing to our own people to speak out. The community can sometimes be closed so this can be difficult. Nobody wants to say anything,'' he said.

Police issued an appeal for a middle-aged Asian man with an orange turban and a grey beard who was seen at the house on Wednesday morning at 11.45am.

Mehmud Vohra, 50, an Indian-born driving instructor who knew the couple and lived in the neighbouring house, said he could not understand how anyone could take offence at such a pleasant young woman. He said Mrs Gindha and her husband had seemed happy during the seven months they lived in the house.

"Her death seems a complete mystery to me. They were a really lovely couple and we didn't hear them arguing or see anything suspicious," he said.

"We occasionally saw what looked like family visitors. We spoke to them at times and she would call me uncle and speak to me in Punjabi. I gave her husband a lift to work on one occasion which was only a short distance from their home."

His wife said that Mrs Gindha usually dressed fashionably in jeans and cropped tops but would sometimes wear Punjabi dress. "I would see her waving out of her window and I would hear her listening to Bollywood music or hear the baby crying,'' she said.

Other neighbours in the area, which is multicultural, also spoke of their shock.

One, a Bangladeshi British woman, 26, who was also heavily pregnant, said she was appalled by the incident and lack of obvious motive, though she had heard the rumours of a possible honour killing.

"I am eight month's pregnant and also being Asian I was really shocked by it because I am in a similar physical state that she was in. I think there is a real problem within part of the community.

"We are beginning to hear of these incidents more and more. It seems to happen after someone objects to an arranged marriage and chooses someone they have found themselves,'' she said.

While the honour killing theory behind Mrs Ghinda's death has not been proved, many in the community, including Sikhs, referred to such motives.

Sitting in a park, from where he could see the couple's now boarded up home, Duranja Singh, 65, a retired engineer, said: "Our system is such that when a girl and boy marry, they are not two, they are part of a huge family."