Gay NRI techie jailed for brutal murder of wife

Jasvir Ram Ginday, 29, attacked his wife Varkha Rani at their home with a metal pipe from a vacuum cleaner just six months after an arranged marriage ceremony in India.

He strangled the 24-year-old woman then burnt her body in the garden incinerator, telling a neighbour he had set fire to rubbish, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard.

Ginday had struggled "being a gay man in a straight world," Judge John Warner told the court during his summing up.

A jury of seven women and five men at Wolverhampton Crown Court took around 17 hours to find Ginday guilty of murder after a three-week trial.

The court ruled this evening that he will have to spend a minimum term of 21 years in jail before he can be considered for parole.

Senior investigating officer Detective Chief Inspector Sarbjit Johal said: "Ginday got married as a matter of convenience, he tricked a poor innocent girl into marriage but was living a lie.

"When she uncovered the truth he could not live with it and killed her quickly then tried to dispose of her body and her possessions by burning them. Had another day passed before police attended, Ginday may well have successfully removed all traces of Varkha.

"I hope that this verdict brings some comfort to Varkha's family who have travelled from India to see justice is brought for their daughter."

Ginday initially told police that his wife had packed her bags and walked out on him following a row at their home.

Then the accused, who pleaded guilty to man slaughter, had claimed throughout his trial that he had accidentally killed Rani while restraining her with a vacuum cleaner hose.

But the jury believed the prosecution's case that the Royal Bank of Scotland employee had planned the killing of his wife, who had only been in the country for about a month.

Back in 2008, Ginday had confided to a friend that he was attracted to men but that he could not tell his family as his mother was very strict.