Kiranjit Ahluwalia
| Kiranjit Ahluwalia | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1955 (age 61–62) Chakkalal, Punjab, India |
| Occupation | Human rights activist, author |
| Children | two sons |
Kiranjit Ahluwalia (born 1955) is an Indian woman who came to international attention after burning her husband to death in 1989 in the UK. She claimed it was in response to ten years of physical, psychological, and sexual abuse. After initially being convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison, Ahluwalia's conviction was later overturned on grounds of inadequate counsel and replaced with voluntary manslaughter. Although her submission of provocation failed (under R v Duffy the loss of control needed to be sudden, which this was not), she successfully pleaded the partial defence of diminished responsibility under s.2 Homicide Act 1957 on the grounds that fresh medical evidence (which was not available at her original trial) may indicate diminished mental responsibility.
The film Provoked (2006) is a fictionalised account of Ahluwalia's life.
In 1979, at the age of 24, Ahluwalia left her home of Chakkalal in Punjab to travel to the United Kingdom after marrying her husband, Deepak—a man she had only met once. She stated that she had suffered from domestic abuse for ten years, including physical violence, food deprivation, and marital rape.
When Ahluwalia looked to her family for help, they reprimanded her, saying it was a matter of family honour that she remain with her husband. She ultimately tried running away from home, but was found by her husband and brought back. During her marriage, Ahluwalia had two sons who she claimed often bore witness to the violence she endured. However, neither boy gave evidence supporting this in court or police interviews prior to the trial.
One evening in the spring of 1989, Ahluwalia was allegedly attacked by her husband. She later accused him of trying to break her ankles and burn her face with a hot iron, apparently trying to extort money from her extended family. Later that night, while her husband lay sleeping, Ahluwalia fetched some petrol and caustic soda mixture from the garage and mixed it to create napalm. She poured it over the bed and set it alight, and ran into a garden with her three-year-old son.
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