A student has been found guilty of murdering the pregnant wife of her secret boyfriend.
Harmohinder Sanghera, 23, of Solihull, West Midlands, stabbed 17-year-old Sana Ali 42 times in a "ferocious" attack at her home in Bury, Greater Manchester.
She had been having an affair with Mrs Ali's husband, Sair Ali, who is 25.
Manchester Crown Court heard Sanghera killed Mrs Ali after Sair Ali lied about his wife and her pregnancy. Sanghera has been jailed for life.
Sanghera
'Extreme distress'
In sentencing, Judge John Saunders told Sanghera: "She (Sana) was trying to make her marriage work and she was 11 weeks pregnant at the time of her death, a fact of which you were well aware.
"You waited until you could be sure nobody was in the house. You tried to disguise her death as suicide. That was unsuccessful because she fought to save her life."
He said of Sanghera: "The degree of distress that she was acting under was extreme."
Victim
The court heard that the murder was "born of jealousy and desperation" after Mr Ali lied about his marriage, and then his wife fell pregnant.
Mr and Mrs Ali were cousins and their marriage was planned from childhood.
Sanghera met Mr Ali through mutual friends in 2005, but he did not tell her he was engaged and used their different religions - Mr Ali is Muslim and Sanghera a Sikh - as a reason for them not to be married.
Earlier this year, after Sanghera found out he was married, the court heard she agreed to be his "second" wife.
They entered into a relationship referred to as a "Mu'ta" - a temporary form of marriage for a certain period of time, which was due to run out days after Sanghera killed Mrs Ali in her home.
She travelled from her West Midlands home on 11 May 2007 when she knew Mrs Ali would be alone.
Ali
Mrs Ali let her into her home and upstairs Sanghera stabbed her 42 times, inflicting a deep wound to her abdomen while doing so. Both mother and child died at the house.
Det Supt Jane Antrobus, of Greater Manchester Police, said: "This is an absolutely tragic case.
"Sanghera was jealous and desperate and went to incredible lengths to try to save her relationship the result of which was this horrific murder."
Mr Ali said: "When we were told of Sana's death it ripped our hearts apart. We were in shock and disbelief.
"The loneliness and emptiness in our hearts and lives are indescribable."
Frontline Punjabi Youth comments: That Girl Sanghera has brought shame to herself and her family, she has ruined her life over a silly little love triangle. But even worse, an innocent pregnant woman lost her life for no reason. That Ali aint no a saint, he played with emotions and it resulted in this tragic event. That Sanghera is a nutcase and aa evil woman. The key to her cell should be thrown away. Ali wanted a women on the side and Sanghera was the target, there are so many situations were a lot of Muslim men, use Sikh girls for a bit on the side. Sanghera is a certified Punjabi Bimbo, who lost her freedom and career over nothing. If Sanghera would have done something heroic for the panth her picture would have been up in Gurdwaras all over the world, but now we feel ashamed that she was apart of the Sikh community. What must the victims family be going threw, we offer our sympathy and prayers, God bless the victims soul.
