ZingB

Parminder Singh given 22 years' jail for murdering wife Nikita Chawla in jealous rage | Crime - Aust

This article is more than 8 years old

Parminder Singh given 22 years' jail for murdering wife Nikita Chawla in jealous rage

This article is more than 8 years old

The Melbourne man stabbed his wife to death in ‘extreme case of domestic violence’, says supreme court judge

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.

Family pay tribute to woman murdered by man she secretly marriedRead more

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.

“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.”

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTEoKyaqpSerq96wqikaJmlqMGzrcuimGamlazAcH6PamxonJWYfHKDjqmYq6WZo7GmvoysoKefmGK0qsLEp2Rral2usqK%2B0mahmqGcYrOwvoymrKuclae2r7OMsKCfnV2jtqy105pknKCRrLmiecinZKOdkaG8tr%2BMq5ignQ%3D%3D

Carisa Kissane

Update: 2024-05-21