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NRI woman convicted for poisoning lover in UK

February 11, 2010 17:00 IST

A jealous NRI woman who killed her lover by poisoning his curry with an ancient Indian herb 'aconite' has been convicted of his murder and is expected to be given life imprisonment.

Lakhvir Singh, 45, was said to have killed Lakhvinder 'Lucky' Cheema, 39, because she could not bear the thought of his marriage to another woman.

He was due to marry Gurjeet Choongh, 21, on Valentine's Day last year.

On January 27, Cheema and his fiance Choongh both became violently ill after eating leftover curry, which had been in the fridge of their home west London. Within hours, Cheema was dead and Choongh was fighting

for her life after being poisoned with aconite, known as the 'queen of poisons' that according to Indian mythology turned Lord Shiva's neck blue.

Southall-based Lakhvir Singh was found guilty at the Old Bailey court of murdering Cheema and causing grievous bodily harm to Choongh.

However, she was found not guilty of attempting to murder Choongh. Edward Brown, prosecuting lawyer, said, "Perhaps jealousy, anger and revenge all playing their part, Lakhvir Singh decided to poison them using an extremely toxic and deadly poison, possibly brought especially from India."

The sentence will be pronounced at a later date.

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