Kirandeep Kaur: ‘The big sister who was my world’
Guar family
The sister of a 24-year-old mother who was stabbed and killed as she lay in bed with her husband and baby in west London on Sunday has said “she was my world”.
Kirandeep Kaur, who was originally from India, was fatally attacked at her home in Hayes.
Speaking through a translator from the Majha region of Punjab, India, her sister Gursharan told BBC London: “She is everything for me, she video calls me and my mum. What are we going to do without her?”
A man has been charged with Kaur’s murder.
Gursharan, who is 21, said her sister came to London looking for a better job so she could support her family.
“My sister moved to the UK in September 2024 to study at Buckinghamshire New University.
“She completed her studies and worked at a grocery store.
“We spoke to each other on the phone. But she hasn’t been back, so I haven’t seen her.
“When she reached London – she told me it was beautiful and she was happy.”
Gusharan said her sister was “very intelligent”.
“She was the top of her class here in India when she was studying, she’s a very hard worker. She loved us all very much.”
Gusharan added: “Our family is very poor. She always thinks about us first. She was very supportive to me. She was my world. My heart hurts.”
Family handout
Kaur leaves behind three siblings and her parents, as well as her husband, whom she married in the UK, and infant.
Her family lives in Tarn Taran, a prominent city and district headquarters in the Majha region of Punjab, India, located about 13 miles (22km) south of Amritsar.
Gusharan told BBC London she found out about the death of her sister from someone in their village and she still has very little information over what happened.
She said: “I am not coping well, I cannot handle this news. My parents are devastated.
“We are four siblings, there is my older brother, then Kirandeep, then two younger siblings.
Gusharan added: “My mother is not feeling well at all since the news, she is devastated. My father is not in the best of health.
“My sister meant the world to me, she supported me and she loved me. She supported all of us. She supported me in my studies, she wanted me to do well.”
‘We want justice’
Gusharan said her family “never thought such a thing could happen to her in London”.
She added: “I looked up to her, she was helping me pay for my fees to study.”
The family want her body to be returned to India.
“I haven’t seen her since she left in 2024. I want her to come home so I can see her one last time.
“My parents want to see her one last time. I want the funeral to take place in our village in India.”
Vigils have been held on Friday and Saturday for Kaur by the Sikh community in the local area where she died.
Gusharan added: “We are grateful to the people in London who are coming to the gatherings and vigils in London for my sister.
“We hope this never happens to another family. We want her body back for her rightful funeral in our hometown.
“We don’t want this to happen to anyone else.
Charged with murder
Daniel Sean James, 46, is accused of attacking Kirandeep Kaur in her home on Uxbridge Road in Hayes, west London, in the early hours of Sunday 12 July.
He then allegedly jumped out of a window and broke both ankles before being detained by police nearby.
On Thursday, James, of Mercer Place, Pinner, west London, appeared at the Old Bailey by videolink from Wormwood Scrubs.
He was charged with Kirandeep’s murder, as well as attempted murder and possession of a blade.
Judge Nigel Lickley KC set a plea hearing for 1 October and James was remanded into custody.
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Man killed woman asleep with her baby, court told
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Hayes
London violence
Metropolitan Police Service
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