London, September 14, 2004
Asha Sharma
NRI Press
A NRI father, Baljinder Singh Mehat, 44 beat his 21-month-old daughter
to death during an alcoholic rage on Christmas Eve was jailed for life
today.
Baljinder from West Bromwich, pleaded guilty to inflicting more than
30 separate injuries on the toddler during an assault last year in the
lounge at the family home in Wolesley Road.
The unemployed father-of-two was left in sole charge of Dilpreet and
her older brother while their mother worked at a laundry and later told
his wife he had beaten their child to death because she annoyed him.
The defendant’s son, who was four-and-a-half at the time, told
police his father – who was drunk on whisky – had punched
and stood on his sister’s face and stomach after repeatedly asking
her if she needed to use the potty.
Scientists who examined the lounge after the attack found blood stains
on every piece of furniture in the room as well as on the defendant’s
flip flops.
The tragedy was discovered by the children’s mother Rashpal, who
returned home to find her husband sitting in the lounge watching television
with their son and the bloodied Dilpreet on his lap.
Christopher Hotten QC, prosecuting, said that as Mrs Mehat waited for
a taxi to take her daughter to hospital, she had asked the defendant
why he had assaulted their child.
The lawyer told the hearing at Wolverhampton Crown Court: “He
said to her, ’She doesn’t listen to me. She annoys me’.”
Dilpreet was pronounced dead at Sandwell General Hospital on the evening
of December 24, less than an hour after the assault.
Sentencing the defendant, Judge Michael Motts described the violence
as “exceptional”.
He told Mehat: “There is only one sentence I can pass on you for
this terrible offence and that is you get imprisonment for life. And
that is the sentence of the court.
“In this case you murdered a defenceless little girl who was yours
and in your charge and that in itself is the grossest aggravation.
“You killed her by a sustained and brutal assault, which in my
experience, is quite exceptional.
“Had you been convicted by a jury, the sentence that I would have
passed by way of a minimum would have exceeded 20 years.”
The judge gave the defendant credit for his guilty plea, which was
made today as the case went to trial, and set a minimum tariff of 15
years.
Anthony Barker QC, defending, said his client, who was born in India
and married Rashpal – his second wife – in an arranged marriage,
suffered from a sense of isolation.
He said he worked as a labourer since coming to Britain at the age
of 21 but he had suffered a motorcycle accident some years ago and had
not been employed since.
Mr Barker said Mehat, who listened intently to proceedings through
a Punjabi interpreter, had a drink problem and was completely unsuited
to looking after young children.
One count of child cruelty to another youngster was ordered to lie
on file.