Another Hannah :-(

How Hannah murder suspect wooed a new bride on run in India
17/07/2004)

He posed as Red Cross worker in remote hill station, reports Peter Foster

The man wanted for the murder of a British teenager, Hannah Foster, posed as a Red Cross worker to win the love and confidence of a new wife.

Hannah Foster's parents are delighted by Kohli's capture

Maninder Pal Singh Kohli, 37, fled to India 18 months ago, four days after the body of 17-year-old Hannah was found dumped near her home in Southampton. She had been raped and strangled.

In the Darjeeling hill station of Kalimpong, a Nepali family told how Kohli won over their daughter Bharati with a mixture of charm and good works.

Until he was arrested trying to cross the border to Nepal early on Thursday, Kohli had been working on a hepatitis vaccination programme for the Red Cross.

It was there he met Bharati Das, 32, a humanitarian worker and daughter of the Kalimpong Red Cross branch chief, Oath Bahadur.

"He was such a kind man," Bharati's elder sister, Mamata Das, said. "He was never drunk or lost his temper. He was so good with the children when they were being vaccinated."

Bharati was unaware that Kohli had left a wife and two young children in Southampton when he fled to his native town of Chandigarh, 180 miles north of Delhi.

"He said he had a mother, father and two sisters who were living in the Punjab," she said. "He definitely never mentioned that he was married. To be married twice is a very serious thing in India."

The family said that Kohli arrived in Kalimpong three months ago and offered to help with the vaccination campaign, using an introduction from a vaccine salesman and friend.

A friend of the family, Antony Pradhan, 30, said he was well-liked and promised people jobs in London.

"He called himself Mike Dennis and was very cool," Mr Pradhan said. "He had many friends. He fell in love with Bharati at the vaccination camp and they married a month ago."

Less than three weeks ago, Kohli - or "Dennis" - held a party to celebrate the occasion at the local Hilltop Hotel, a modest building a few hundred yards from Bharati's family home. Photographs show him looking relaxed in jeans and open-neck shirt, laughing, joking and dancing in a circle with guests who were served crisps, biscuits and beer.

All his new-found happiness ended when Hannah's parents, Trevor and Hilary, flew to India to appeal for help from the public.

This week Kohli's picture has been splashed across the front pages of national newspapers and the cable television news channels which penetrate even this remote corner of India.

Although, he had shaved his beard, head and eyebrows, Mr Pradhan recognised him straight away.

"I was so shocked but I knew it was him for sure," he said. "We were very frightened for Bharati. I was desperate that she did not go the same way as Hannah Foster did, so we did everything to help. I told the police he had been living here for a while."

Kalimpong police, who occupy a ramshackle station built by the British in the 1920s, launched a search. It soon became clear that Kohli and Bharati had set off for the Nepali border a days earlier, staying at guest houses along the way.

"We went to several houses but each time he was one step ahead," a police officer said. "Then we reached a house he had only just left. We caught him minutes later on the road outside Panighatta."

Bharati was too distressed to talk yesterday as Kohli appeared before the magistrate at Kalimpong and was remanded in custody.

He is expected to be handed over to the Punjab police and Det Supt Alan Betts, of Hampshire police, this weekend. Extradition proceedings will then begin.

Is this happening more often or does it just seem that way? SO sad!

[Goose]

it`s just a shame they had to pay £60,000 ($90,000) reward money just for someone to turn this guy in, but I`m sure they feel its money worth spent .

Oh yes, I'm sure they thought it necessary to bring him to justice, Goose. I would be willing to pay to make sure a friend or family member received justice. I guees at that point money doesn't matter any more.

[Goose]

Quite right squarepeg, when it comes to family....nothing is more important...I really hope they receive justice for their daughter, the only trouble is, that over here the Courts tend to be too lenient on killers

[caristo]

I think they are here too but the can is full.If they put all criminals in there they would be forever building new ones.

[Goose]

I think every prison is overpopulated, ours are filled to overflowing...shame we can`t still send them to Australia as we used to.

[Asphodel]

I think we need to stop putting so many people in prison for having drugs. I think that would give a lot of free space in the prisons. Also, I think prostitution should be legal but regulated by the government as an actual job. Of course, people should still be punished for drugs, but I don't see the need to fill prisons with those people. I think that we need to stop spending so much money on the prison systems over here, and focus it on education. The people in prisons have no education most of the time so a lot of them end up doing what they do to survive. If we educated the children better now, then there will likely be far less people in prison in the future.

[Goose]

I agree with you Brazenfemme on the drugs users not being jailed, but the drug pushers should be.
Why do you think the people in jail have had no education ? were they let down by the system or did they just choose not to go to school ? You can only lead a horse to water, you can`t make it drink.
If people want to be educated its there for them, if they choose to go down another path then they should be made aware of whats waiting for them...so I suppose that in itself is a form of education.

[Asphodel]

Most didn't even graduate highschool and are colored. Not a lot of money is put into schooling here, especially in the inner city. They don't teach at the levels they should, and even if a lot of these people graduate they still aren't as bright as the rest of us. And there's also the pressure for the poor to make money, so they have to leave school, and people in this country ignore our faults so they don't do a whole lot to help.

[Goose]

Yeah I know the story, its rather the same with our inner cities, the Government promises extra money for schools...they get it, they waste it......to be honest, I feel that some people find it`s far easier to sell drugs and make a good living than actually going out to work....all the cr*p that they can`t find work is rubbish. The best bit is...they feel they are actually providing a service for the community......not destroying peoples lives .

[Asphodel]

It's real hard to find jobs here, as of late, and probably in the past...

[MoJo47]

I guess it just depends on where you are, your education and your occupation as to whether there are jobs available. There are usually jobs out there for anone who truly wants to work.

[Goose]

I suppose some would argue that you need a top education to get a top job, and in a way I suppose thats right, but at this moment we have people with degrees working in MacDonalds...so it doesn`t always work that way.
In my opinion its advisable to actually find a profession...if you work hard at it...it`ll work for you .