Husband strangled his "angelic" ex-wife and stuffed her body in a suitcase because 'she was seeing other men'
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A "resentful" husband strangled his ex-wife to death with her own scarf before stuffing her body in a suitcase and hiding it near a neighbour's house.
Ashwin Daudia, 51, killed mum-of-two Kiran Daudia, 46, after becoming angry she was making him homeless and had started seeing other men.
The couple, who had been together for 26 years, had divorced three years earlier and had sold their property to Mrs Daudia's sister, Preti Jethwa.
Kiran, who worked for retail giant Next, was reported missing on January 16 last year - the same day that the sale was due to go through.
(Image: Aaron Chown / SWNS.com)
(Image: SWNS.com)
(Image: SWNS.com)
A court heard how Daudia had probably strangled his former partner with her scarf before showing "remarkable coolness" by cleaning up the murder scene.
The factory machine operator stuffed the corpse into a suitcase, after initially picking one which was too small, and crammed her belongings into another before their 17-year-old son got home from college.
He then dragged the suitcase through the streets away from their home address.
Her body was discovered by a neighbour "trussed up" in the suitcase near their terraced home in Evington, Leicester, at 9.30am on January 17 last year.
Today Daudia showed no emotion as he was convicted of murder and jailed for life to serve a minimum of 18 years at Leicester Crown Court .
(Image: Facebook)
Her family have described the mum as "the backbone of the family, very kind, generous and angelic".
The trial heard the couple were paired together in an arranged marriage in India in 1988 and continued to live under the same roof after they divorced in 2014.
On the day she went missing, security cameras captured Kiran turning into her street at around 2.20pm after finishing her shift working as customer services advisor.
Prosecutor William Harbage QC said: "Within the next hour she was dead. The defendant was the only other person in the house.
"There was an argument between Ashwin and Kiran, there was a struggle in which he strangled her with some sort of ligature, probably her own scarf.
"Had this been some sort of domestic incident which had got out of hand and the defendant immediately regretted what had happened, one might have expected him to have raised the alarm and called for an ambulance or the police.
"He did nothing of the sort, instead showing a remarkable coolness in the circumstances, he tried to cover up what he had done."
(Image: Aaron Chown / SWNS.com)
Giving evidence, the dad-of-two claimed that he had "lost control" after his estranged wife had kicked him in the "urine area" and repeatedly swore at him.
Speaking through a Gujarati interpreter he claimed he banged her head on a bannister, before pressing on her neck with both hands.
He told the court: "Her scarf had come off from her neck, then I twisted the scarf on here [pointing at a photo of the banister], in the corner where the pole is.
"With my knee I pushed her down and I kept holding her very tightly and the scarf was wrapped around as well.
"With my knee I pushed her so she went down a little. She fell half down, so she was like hung."
(Image: SWNS.com)
He claimed that he had to use his own suitcase to hide the body, as hers was a "little bit too small".
He also said he removed her boots and tied her wrists and ankles together to stop them coming out and being seen.
Detective Sergeant Mark Wesley, who was part of the investigation team, said: “The evidence against Daudia was overwhelming, with CCTV work and forensic examinations helping us to build a strong case against him.
“He was solely responsible for the death of his ex-wife. Kiran had her family at the heart of everything she did.
“Through his own selfish, cowardly actions Daudia has ripped this family apart, leaving two doting sons without a mother and other family members distraught and struggling to get over the pain and heartache he has caused.”
Kiran’s family released a statement which said: “Kiran was full of life, with a vibrant personality, a loving, caring mother and a very thoughtful daughter, sister and aunt.
"Her friendly and charismatic nature meant she had many friends.
"She was simply beautiful and loved having photographs taken. She was the backbone of the family, very kind, generous and angelic.
“We as a family cannot even begin to describe the loss and emptiness in our heart.
"Her perpetual smile will be missed everyday of our lives by everyone who knew her. Kiran had lots of dreams and aspirations which were untimely taken away by this demonic act.
"Life without her will never be the same."
Janine Smith, from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), added: "There was overwhelming evidence that Ashwin Daudia was not only responsible for Ms Daudia's death, but that he had intended to kill her.
"During the trial the CPS presented evidence to the jury that the injuries Ms Daudia suffered and the defendant's actions after her death were those of someone with intent to kill or do serious harm and were a calculated attempted to cover up his actions.
"My heartfelt sympathies are with Ms Daudia's family, especially her two sons, who have had to come to terms with so much.
"I hope that the conclusion of these proceedings will provide some closure for them."