Indian-origin woman bound and buried alive by ex-boyfriend in Australia in ‘act of revenge’, court hears

A 21-year-old nursing student in Australia was bound with cable and gaffer tape before being buried alive in March 2021 by her ex-partner, prosecutors told a court.

Jasmeen Kaur was found buried in the remote Flinders Ranges, one month after she reported to police that she was being stalked by her ex-partner Tarikjot Singh.

The Supreme Court in South Australia heard the gory details of the 2021 murder of the Indian-origin student which was described as “an act of vengeance” committed with "an uncommon level of cruelty".

Kaur was abducted from her workplace in Adelaide on 5 March 2021 and suffered “absolute terror” at the hands of Mr Singh, prosecutor Carmen Matteo SC told the court.

The prosecutor said that she suffered "an uncommon level of cruelty" as Mr Singh blindfolded and bound her with tape before burying her while she was conscious at the Death Rock near Hawker in the Flinders Ranges, reported ABC news.

A post mortem report showed the woman likely died on 6 March, a day after she was abducted.

"She had to have been aware in the moments of the hopelessness of her situation and she had to have been consciously suffering what can only be described as absolute terror of breathing in and swallowing soil and dying in that way," Ms Matteo told the court.

Mr Singh who pleaded guilty to murdering Kaur in February initially denied killing her, saying she had taken her own life and he buried her in the ranges.

He took the police to the burial site where they found Kaur’s shoes, glasses and work badge in a bin, along with looped cable ties.

He was caught on CCTV camera buying gloves, cable ties and a shovel hours before the murder at a Bunnings in Mile End.

The prosecutor said Mr Singh hatched a "cold and clinical planning" of Kaur’s murder after their relationship ended and he was unable to get over the breakup.

He drove her for hours after kidnapping her while keeping her restrained in the boot of the car. Mr Singh slit her throat “superficially” which did not cause her death, Ms Matteo said.

"The way in which Ms Kaur was killed involved, really, an uncommon level of cruelty," she said.

"It’s not known when her throat was cut, it’s not known when or how she got into or was placed into that burial grave and it’s not known when that was dug, other than the prosecution says it had to have been while she was still alive and in preparation for her burial.

"[It was] a killing that was committed as an act of vengeance or as an act of revenge."

Defence is seeking leniency, citing “crime of passion”, for a more compassionate sentence.

The prosecutor for Mr Singh, Martin Anders, told court that his client’s judgement was “gravely impaired” after the breakdown of their relationship.

He said Mr Singh has poor mental health and began hallucinating after Ms Kaur’s death.

Justice Adam Kimber said Mr Singh took “a series of careful steps” to murder her. “He was punishing her (Ms Kaur) for having been rejected,” he said.

Justice Kimber has mandated a life sentence and a non-parole period will be set in the upcoming month.