A UK court on Wednesday sentenced to life a 23-year-old man who arrived from India as a partner for a woman in the east Midlands town of Leicester, fell out with her and stabbed her to death on March 2.
Jigukumar Sorthi was sentenced by the Leicester Crown Court to a minimum of 28 years in jail before being considered for parole after being found guilty of murder following a trial at last week. He stabbed Bhavini Pravin, 21, in her home, when he went there to speak to her, and after some time stabbed her multiple times.
He soon left the address and less than two hours after the incident, approached a police officer and made admissions implicating himself in the stabbing.
A post-mortem examination concluded that Pravin died as a result of multiple stab wounds.
Her father, Pravin Babu, said in a statement after Sorthi’s conviction last week: “Our daughter was only 21 years old when she was murdered…When our Bhavini was born, we felt that all of our prayers had been answered. She was the ‘Laxmi’ of our family”.
Growing up, she gave us so much joy and purpose. She was our inspiration to better ourselves and to build a future. Soon after, our two sons, Krutesh and Yagnesh, were born. Even from a young age, Bhavini doted on her little brothers. We decided to move to England so that we could give our children a better future”.
“As parents our aspirations were that our daughter would get a good education, pursue her childhood career choice of nursing, marry the man of her dreams, have a family and live happily ever after.
“When Jigu became engaged to our daughter, we trusted him to cherish, love and look after her forever. She was so precious to us. We showed Jigu nothing but love and acceptance. We brought him to England to give him a better life. We supported him, housed him.“And how did Jigu return our kindness – he repaid us by killing our beloved Bhavini”.
Detective inspector Kenny Henry of the Leicestershire police said after sentencing: “Bhavini was a young woman who had the rest of her life to look forward to. She was a gentle caring soul and came from a close and very private family”.
“It is fair to say she was the apple of her parents’ eyes. Losing Bhavini so early in life and in such tragic circumstances continues to take its toll on her parents and brothers – their lives have been changed forever”.
“To have lost their beloved daughter to someone who they trusted to take care of her is something they will never recover from. Being present during the trial was understandably difficult for the family and I must commend their bravery, courage and dignity throughout”, he added.
