Warning: This story contains details and content that some readers may find distressing.
Nursing student Jasmeen Kaur was bound by cable ties and buried alive by her ex-boyfriend in South Australia’s Flinders Ranges in a murder dubbed an “act of vengeance”, a court has heard.
The 21-year-old was stalked, abducted and killed by Tarikjot Singh in March 2021 when she was buried alive in a shallow grave more than 400 kilometres from where she was last seen leaving work in Adelaide.
Singh initially denied the killing, claiming Kaur had taken her own life, but pleaded guilty to murder before he was due to stand trial earlier this year.
He was caught on CCTV hours before the murder at a Bunnings in Mile End buying gloves, cable ties and a shovel.
The court heard Singh planned the killing because he was unable to get over the breakdown of their relationship.
Singh kidnapped Kaur from her workplace and drove her for hours while she was retrained in the back or boot of the car.
Her body was later found blindfolded, limbs bound with cable ties and gaffer tape in a shallow grave in the Flinders Ranges.
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Prosecutors today said the murder was an act of vengeance and the nature and level of violence involved an “uncommon level of cruelty”.
“She had to have been consciously suffering what could only be described as the absolute terror of breathing in and swallowing soil and dying in that way,” prosecutor Carmen Matteo said.
Kaur’s family, including her mother, were in court to hear the sentencing submissions.
Singh was told in court he will be jailed for life.
His lawyer wants him to be given a more merciful sentence, partly because they have labelled it a “crime of passion”.
He will find out how long he must serve behind bars before he can apply for release next month.
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