Indian-origin man in Canada gets life term for killing wife

A Calgary court was told the crime occurred when Gagandeep Sidhu, 34, and his wife Monisha Sidhu, 26, got into an argument while on their way to the Peter Lougheed Centre March 29, 2013 for him to see a doctor, Calgary Herald reported.

Monisha, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, tried to get out of the vehicle but got entangled in the seatbelt and was dragged approximately 350 metres on the pavement.

Her clothes were shredded from the waist down and her body was covered with bruises and abrasions. However, she managed to free herself and run toward an apartment, the court heard.

Sidhu stopped the vehicle, followed her and strangled her and then covered her lifeless body with a coat. He drove himself to the hospital and told a nurse that he had killed his wife.

An autopsy revealed that Monisha had died from neck compression.

The court heard the couple came from India and had married after falling in love but they kept their relationship a secret from Sidhu's family because the woman was of a different religion and caste. His relatives later learned of their marriage and ostracised him.

The isolation put a strain on their relationship, along with their inability to have children as well as financial issues.

Defence lawyer Alain Hepner said Sidhu was also suffering from psychological issues.

"He was getting increasingly more psychologically depressed and on the way to the hospital for him to be seen by a doctor, he committed this offence," Hepner told reporters outside court following the sentencing Friday.

"But as you know, psychological issues do not exonerate someone from such a serious offence."

He said his client started to show remorse as the case progressed.