PTC Web Desk: . Nearly eight years after one of Punjab's most widely discussed murder cases, a Mohali court has sentenced Seerat Kaur to life imprisonment for the murder of her husband, businessman Ekam Singh Dhillon. The court also imposed a monetary penalty on the convict.

The case dates back to March 19, 2017, when the body of Ekam Singh Dhillon was found inside a suitcase in Phase 3B1, Mohali. The incident had shocked the region and triggered a detailed police investigation.

During the probe, Seerat Kaur was named as the prime accused. Investigators alleged that after killing her husband, she attempted to dispose of the body by concealing it inside a suitcase.

During the trial, the prosecution examined 36 witnesses to support its case. The evidence presented before the court included CCTV footage from the neighbourhood, forensic reports, testimony of the family's domestic help and other circumstantial evidence.

According to the prosecution, the CCTV footage captured the movements of the accused around the time of the incident. The forensic examination also reportedly established a match between the bullet recovered during the investigation and the weapon linked to the case.

After hearing the matter over several years, the Mohali court found Seerat Kaur guilty of murder and sentenced her to life imprisonment. The court also imposed a fine as part of the sentence.

How the Murder Was Carried Out | Explained

According to the investigation, Seerat Kaur allegedly shot her husband in the head using an illegal US-made 7.65 mm pistol. After the murder, she packed the body of the 6-foot-tall victim into a suitcase measuring around 2.5 feet.

She allegedly planned to dispose of the body by transporting it in the victim's BMW car, but the plan failed before she could remove the suitcase.

The couple's 11-year-old son testified that he heard his father scream, followed by a gunshot, on the night of the incident. He told the court that when he tried to leave his room, his mother had locked the door from outside and told him the sound was coming from the television before asking him to go back to sleep.

The following morning, Ekam Dhillon's father and brother reached the house after receiving information that something was wrong. They found blood stains near the family's BMW parked outside the house. On opening the car, they discovered a large suitcase on the back seat with blood leaking from it. Inside the suitcase was Ekam Dhillon's body.

Key evidence

CCTV footage from a neighbouring house became one of the strongest pieces of evidence in the case. The footage allegedly showed Seerat Kaur dragging the heavy suitcase down the stairs by herself. She was also seen cleaning blood stains from the staircase before loading the suitcase into the BMW with the help of an auto-rickshaw driver.

Investigators said Seerat Kaur fled after failing to dispose of the body. She allegedly went to Gurdwara Amb Sahib in Phase 8, where she hid blood-stained clothes and slippers inside a black bag near a tree. 

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- PTC NEWS

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