© news.anotao.comMundill Mahil and Varinder Singh, 'til death do them part.
Posing against an impressive London skyline, newly-wed Mundill Mahil appears every inch the happy bride. The pretty brunette appears to have the world at her feet as she gazes into the eyes of her handsome young husband,
Varinder Singh - a rising Labour Party star.
But the photograph provoked fury last night from the family of the
ex-boyfriend she led to a grisly death just five years ago. Mahil - then a medical student - played the honeytrap in the
brutal murder of TV executive Gagandip Singh. He was
beaten and tied up before being burnt alive in the boot of a car parked just a stone's throw from Greenwich Park in South-East London. Mahil received six years for her part in the plot but was released after three years.
Incredibly, however, after she wed last week she decided to go to
a spot close to the scene of the murder for her official wedding photos - even though it was 25 miles from where the marriage ceremony took place. Last night, Gagandip's heartbroken mother Tajinder Singh, 49, branded the photographs 'beyond belief'. She said it was painful to see Mahil going on to build her own family when hers had been ripped apart so violently.
The victim's sister, Amandip, 23, added: 'I think it's disgusting. It's five minutes from where it happened. It seems she has just started over, as if nothing happened. In court she tried to make herself seem innocent, and depressed. But it didn't take her long to get over things. She has been out for a year and already married. Why have a photoshoot in Greenwich? Surely it would bring back bad memories?'
Mahil lured the 21-year-old besotted businessman to his death by inviting him to her student digs in Brighton
in revenge for a sex assault on her.
He was beaten over the head, tied up with electrical cord and trapped in the boot of his Mercedes which was later set on fire near Greenwich Park in February 2011.
One year later the Old Bailey trial split the Sikh community in South-East London, with Mr Singh's TV station campaigning for Mahil's bail to be revoked. Her barrister admitted some would 'always see her - albeit wrongly - as the girl who got away with murder'.
Eventually, the
jury cleared Mahil, who claimed she had no role in the attack, of murder
but convicted her of causing grievous bodily harm. Another man, who was also infatuated with Mahil, was convicted of murder and a third, an accomplice, of manslaughter. Sentencing Mahil, Judge Paul Worsley QC said she had 'many outstanding qualities' but was also 'manipulative, vengeful and deceitful'.
Gagandip's mother believes he was killed because she blocked their marriage because he was so young. The murder was the second tragedy for the family. Mr Singh's father Charanjit was shot and killed on a visit to India in 2009.
Since her release in 2014, Mahil has been forging a new life, but her criminal conviction means her dream of qualifying as a doctor is over. Instead she has thrown herself into charity work, photography and retrained as a personal trainer, aromatherapist and masseuse.
Last weekend, her family threw a huge party to mark her wedding to Varinder Singh. He is an Ilford councillor who works as a senior official in the office of Ilford South MP Mike Gapes. The community-minded politician has been pictured with London Mayor Sadiq Khan and backed Liz Kendall in her failed leadership bid.
As part of a reinvention process, Mahill now uses the name Mandeep Kaur. She tied the knot with Mr Singh at a ceremony at Rochester Gurdwara. Afterwards, more than 500 guests packed Cobham Hall in Higham, Kent, as Mahil wowed the crowd in a traditional £3,000 bespoke wedding dress.
The celebration followed a smaller party the previous evening at her family home in Chatham, Kent. One guest said: 'It was astonishing to see how she has moved on. What about the guy that is dead and his family? She is using a new name but everyone knows about her past. Everyone gets a second chance but to make such a public show of it seems wrong.
'There were some who did not go to the wedding because they did not want to be seen there. It has caused huge uproar in the Sikh community. They do not want to be seen associating with someone who has done something so terrible. They feel that at least the wedding should have been more modest and humble. Whatever she has or has not done, it cannot be right to throw it back in the faces of the victim's family like this.'
As part of her bid to erase the past, Mahil has launched no fewer than five websites all carrying detailed descriptions of her achievements, strengths and passion for charity. One describes her as a 'highly conscientious people's person'. There is no mention of her victim, conviction or time in jail.
None of Mahil's family were willing to speak about her wedding but her father-in-law Gulzar Singh, 65, insisted he had 'no problem' with it, adding: 'We are happy if our son is happy.'
Comment: Oblivious to the past? Or, lingering revenge for the dubious sexual assault? A callous choice at best, all considered.