A 24-year-old woman has been stabbed to death after an intruder broke into her home in West London earlier this month, in a case that has prompted vigils and marches in the local community. The victim has been named as Kirandeep Kaur, and a man has since been charged in connection with her killing. Her death has caused shock among those who knew her and drawn the attention of her family in India.
According to prosecutors, Kirandeep Kaur was attacked as she slept beside her partner and their three-month-old baby. Both her partner and the baby were unharmed in the attack. The intruder had broken into the family home, and the sudden violence has left relatives and neighbours struggling to comprehend what happened to the young mother.
A man, named by police as Daniel Sean James and described as a white British man, has been charged with her murder and with the attempted murder of a second man. At this stage of their inquiries, police say there is no evidence that the killing was a hate crime, but investigators stressed that they are keeping an open mind and exploring every line of inquiry as the case proceeds.
Kirandeep's family live in Punjab, India, where her mother, father, brother and sister spoke about their loss. They said they only found out about her death three days after it happened, when locals in their village broke the news to them. Describing her as a good and hardworking young woman who never caused any problems, the family said they were broken and still could not believe what had occurred.
Relatives said Kirandeep had arrived in England on a student visa two years ago, hoping to build a better future for herself and, one day, for her family too. Her dream, they said, was to stand on her own two feet and eventually bring her parents over to the United Kingdom. To help her build that future, the family said they had sacrificed everything, borrowing money from relatives and selling their farmland.
The family said their most immediate wish was to see Kirandeep one final time and to give her the funeral she deserved, but they described being left without basic information, saying nobody had told them where her body was or whether a post-mortem examination had been carried out. Sky News understands that arrangements are now underway to repatriate her body to India, in line with the family's wishes.
In West London, hundreds of people have attended vigils and marches to remember Kirandeep and to call for justice, with her younger sister among those paying tribute. The sister, who chose to speak in English, a language she said Kirandeep had helped her learn, recalled sweet memories of a sibling who always encouraged her in her studies and in everything she did.