An Indian teenager who moved to London after marriage to embark on a caregiving career, met a gruesome fate as she was found dead at her Croydon residence.
Mehak Sharma, 19, was found with a fatal neck wound at her home in Ash Tree Way, Croydon on Sunday 29 October.
Her husband, Sahil Sharma, 23, now faces murder charges, having appeared in court on Thursday 2 November. He was remanded in custody to appear again at the Old Bailey on 2 February.
The teenager’s mother, Madhu Bala, expressed concern as Mehak, who diligently contacted her daily, suddenly fell silent on Sunday.
Speaking to Indian media Ms Bala told how she had grown concerned about her daughter after losing contact with her.
“Mehak used to ring me up every morning,” she told the Indian Panorama. “However, on Sunday [29 October] I did not receive any call. I thought she must be busy. However, when I did not get a call on Monday, I got panicky.
“I asked my relative, who lives about 150km away from Croydon, to visit Mehak. It was in the evening that he rang me and told me that the London Metropolitan Police had taken Sahil into custody after being charged with murder of Mehak.”
She added Ms Sharma was working with Fabulous Homecare Limited, a home care provider operating across south London.
Mehak who is from the district of Punjab, in India was married on 24 June last year and had left her rural village to study in London five months after tying the knot.
A special post-mortem examination conducted on Tuesday 31 October found the cause of death to have been a stab wound to the neck.
Police are appealing for anyone with information about her death to come forward.
A Met Police spokesperson said: “Anyone with information that may assist the investigation, including anyone who saw or heard a disturbance on Sunday afternoon at the address in Ash Tree Way, is asked to call police. Any witnesses or anyone with any information is asked to call police on 101 or contact via X (Please quote CAD 4546/29OCT
“To give information anonymously contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 11.”
