>SdkbBot at 14:16, 4 January 2022

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{{short description|Indian woman rights activist}}
{{Use Indian English|date=July 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2016}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Kiranjit Ahluwalia
| image =
| image_size = 241px
| caption = Aishwariya Rai and Kiranjit Ahluwalia (l-r)
| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1955}}
| birth_place = [[Chak Kalal]], [[Punjab (India)|Punjab]], India
| occupation = {{csv|Human rights activist|author}}
| children = 2 sons
}}

'''Kiranjit Ahluwalia''' (born 1955) is an Indian woman who came to international attention after burning her abusive husband to death in 1989 in the UK. She claimed it was in response to ten years of [[physical abuse|physical]], [[psychological abuse|psychological]], and [[sexual abuse]].<ref name="award">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1651234.stm|title=Killer given domestic violence award|date=12 November 2001|work=BBC News|author=Cherie Booth | accessdate=5 January 2010}}</ref> 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 in English law|provocation]] failed (under ''R v Duffy'' the loss of control needed to be sudden,<ref>''R v Duffy'' [1949] 1 All ER 932</ref> 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.<ref>''R v Ahluwalia'' [1992] 4 All ER 889</ref>

The film ''[[Provoked (film)|Provoked]]'' (2006) is a fictionalised account of Ahluwalia's life.

==Background==
In 1977, at the age of 21, Kiranjit left her home of [[Chak Kalal]] in [[Punjab (India)|Punjab]] to travel to Canada where she visited her sister. following this on 21 July 1979, she traveled to the UK where she married her husband, Deepak, whom she had met only once. She stated that she had suffered from [[domestic abuse]] for ten years, including [[physical violence]], food deprivation, and [[marital rape]].<ref name="award"/><ref name="gaurdian">{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/apr/04/gender.ukcrime|title=I wanted him to stop hurting me|date=4 April 2007|author=Staff Writer|location=London|work=The Guardian}}</ref>

When Kiranjit looked to her family for help, they reprimanded her by 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, Kiranjit had two sons, who she claimed often bore witness to the violence that she endured.<ref name="gaurdian"/> However, neither boy gave evidence supporting that in court or police interviews prior to the trial.

One evening in the spring of 1989, Kiranjit 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, Kiranjit 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.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article1604983.ece|title=Abused wife who killed her husband shocks Bollywood|author= James Rossiter|date=3 April 2007|location=London|work=The Times}}</ref>

In a later interview, she stated: "I decided to show him how much it hurt. At times I had tried to run away, but he would catch me and beat me even harder. I decided to burn his feet so he couldn't run after me."<ref name="gaurdian"/> She also claimed, "I wanted to give him a scar like those he had given me, to have him suffer pain as I had."

Deepak suffered severe burns over 40% of his body and died 10 days later in hospital from complications of severe burns and subsequent [[sepsis]]. Kiranjit, who could then speak only broken English, was arrested and ultimately charged with murder.<ref name="honor">{{cite web|url=http://www.stophonourkillings.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1490|author=Joanne Payton|date=8 April 2007|title=Express India Interview with Kiranjit Ahluwalia|access-date=22 May 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716150501/http://www.stophonourkillings.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1490|archive-date=16 July 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Trial and conviction==
Kiranjit was convicted of murder in December 1989.<ref name="KramaraeSpender2000">{{cite book|last1=Kramarae|first1=Cheris|last2=Spender|first2=Dale|title=Routledge International Encyclopedia of Women: Global Women's Issues and Knowledge|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N0ths5DOgGgC&pg=PA723|access-date=27 November 2012|year=2000|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=9780415920889|pages=723–}}</ref> At the trial, the prosecution argued that although on the night of the event she had been threatened with a hot poker, the fact that she waited until her husband had gone to sleep was evidence that she had time to "cool off".<ref name="KramaraeSpender2000"/> In addition, the prosecution claimed that her prior knowledge to mix caustic soda with petrol to create napalm was not common knowledge and so was proof that she had planned her husband's murder. Her counsel did not make any claims about the violence she later claimed she had endured, and the prosecution suggested that Kiranjit was motivated by jealousy because of her husband's repeated affairs.<ref name="gaurdian"/> She was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison.<ref name="Tyson2012">{{cite book|last=Tyson|first=Danielle|title=Sex, Culpability and the Defence of Provocation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=km6v_Jsv4wUC&pg=PA27|accessdate=27 November 2012|date=2012-08-21|publisher=Routledge|ISBN=9781136298837|pages=27–}}</ref>

==Appeal and release==
Her case eventually came to the attention of the [[Southall Black Sisters]], who pressed for a mistrial. Kiranjit's conviction was overturned on appeal in 1992 on grounds of insufficient counsel since Kiranjit had not been aware that she could plead guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility. In addition, it was brought to light that she was suffering from severe depression when she lashed back at her husband, which her new counsel argued had then altered her decision making abilities.<ref name="gaurdian"/> After the mistrial was declared, the [[Crown Prosecution Service]] did not attempt another prosecution.

==Impact==
Kiranjit's case helped raise awareness of domestic violence in families of non-English-speaking immigrants to Western countries and changed the laws for domestic abuse victims in the United Kingdom.<ref name="award"/>

Her case, known in British legal textbooks as ''R v Ahluwalia'', changed the definition of the word "provocation" in cases of battered women to reclassify her crime as [[manslaughter]], instead of [[murder]],<ref name="Smartt2008">{{cite book|last=Smartt|first=Ursula|title=Law for Criminologists: A Practical Guide|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1Ab04WQ4XAoC&pg=PA12|accessdate=27 November 2012|date=2008-12-01|publisher=SAGE|isbn=9781412945707|pages=12–}}</ref> the same year as her appeal, lead to the freeing of [[Emma Humphreys]] and [[Sara Thornton case|Sara Thornton]].<ref name="Smartt2008"/>

Kiranjit was honoured in 2001 at the first [[Asian Women Awards]] in recognition of her "strength, personal achievements, determination and commitment" in helping to bring to light the subject of domestic violence.<ref name="award"/>

She wrote an autobiography with coauthor [[Rahila Gupta]], Circle of Light.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1050612/asp/look/story_4851495.asp|work=The Telegraph|author=Amit Roy|title=An eye for an eye|date=12 June 2005}}</ref>

[[Gita Sahgal]] made a film called ''Unprovoked'' for the [[British TV|British television]] investigative documentary programme ''[[Dispatches (TV series)|Dispatches]]'' on the subject of Kiranjit's experience.<ref>[http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070610/asp/opinion/story_7900361.asp Joshi, Ruchir, " UNPROVOKED-A historic moment swallowed by the box office," The Telegraph, 10 June 2007, accessed 16 February 2010]</ref>

The story was fictionalised in the film ''[[Provoked (film)|Provoked]]'', which was screened at the 2007 [[Cannes Film Festival]]. [[Naveen Andrews]] played Deepak and [[Aishwarya Rai]] played the role of Kiranjit. During the screening at Cannes, Kiranjit sat next to Rai, holding her hand and sobbing during the most violent scenes.<ref name="gaurdian"/>

==References==
<references/>

{{Miscarriage of justice in the UK}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ahluwalia, Kiranjit}}
[[Category:1955 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Indian women's rights activists]]
[[Category:Punjabi people]]
[[Category:Indian people convicted of manslaughter]]
[[Category:Activists from Punjab, India]]
[[Category:Indian women activists]]
[[Category:Marital rape]]
[[Category:Indian expatriates in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Mariticides]]

Kiranjit Ahluwalia - Revision history

>SdkbBot at 14:16, 4 January 2022