When Gagandip Singh, millionaire owner of Britain’s satellite channel Sikh TV and president of the British Sikh Student Federation, got a call from a woman he had been ``besotted’’ with inviting him to her house he could not believe his luck and drove all the way from London to Brighton. Hours later, his charred body was found in the boot of his own car.
At the time, his death was sought to be linked with the murder of his father Charanjit Singh in a contract killing in India two years ago, but a court on Tuesday heard that he was a victim of a ``honey trap’’ laid by a young Punjabi medical student, Mundil Mahil, who wanted to punish him for attempting to rape her a few months ago.
It was alleged that she ordered two men Harvinder Shoker, known as Ravi,and Darren Peters to kill Singh (21). They were ``lying in wait for him’’ when he arrived at Ms Mahil’s house.
Aftab Jafferjee, QC, for the prosecution told the court: “He was attacked and beaten unconscious. He was then wrapped in Mahil’s duvet and dumped into the boot of the Mercedes. Petrol was poured into the car as he lay either still unconscious from the beating, or completely helpless inside the boot. He was still alive at this point.
The car was then set alight with him shut in the boot. That is how his life was ended.”
The car was then driven to Blackheath, south-east London, it was stated.
Describing Ms Mahil as an “intelligent and attractive young woman”, Mr Jafferjee said her role was ``central’’.
``If she had agreed not to lure him to Brighton that fateful evening, the deceased would have been safe and alive today,” he said.
The court heard that Ms Mahil and Singh had been friends since 2009 when both began a degree at Brighton and Sussex Medical School. The murder of Singh’s father brought them closer and at the end of August 2010, he stayed the night in the house she shared with fellow female medical students.
“It is common ground in this case that he tried to have sex with her by getting into her bed. Both she and he were to describe it as an attempted rape. She forced him away and he broke down in tears and left. She reacted both then and over time in a way you would expect any young woman to react. She was extremely upset and angry at what she, with some justification, perceived as a great betrayal of trust,” Mr Jefferjee said.
She cut off all links with him though he tried desperately to contact her, bombarding her with texts and calls. In February this year, she “lured him to Brighton” by suggesting a meeting at her house where ``lying in wait for him were Ravi and Peters,’’ the court was told.
Ms Mahil denies the charge.
