In a case that has seen unattractive and raw human emotions at work, an NRI medical student ordered two "gangster friends" to kill a "besotted" Sikh television executive in revenge after he tried to rape her
Mundill Mahil, 20, lured millionaire Gagandip Singh to her house, where he was beaten unconscious then bundled into the boot of a car and burned alive, a jury was told in a court on Tuesday.
She allegedly told friends she wanted Singh dead – and, the court heard, persuaded another man who was infatuated with her to murder him.
Singh, 21, was killed in February, after the "intelligent and attractive young woman" convinced him, through a series of text messages, to come to her student digs in Brighton at 11pm, prosecutors told the Court.
But when he walked into her bedroom, carrying a teddy bear and flowers, he found Harvinder Shoker – who was also in love with Mahil – and "hired muscle" Darren Peters waiting for him, the court heard.
During the beating Singh – the owner of a new broadcasting service called Sikh TV – screamed Mahil's name and begged for help, it was claimed.
The two men, both 20, wrapped the victim in Mahil's duvet and bundled him into the boot of the Mercedes he arrived in, then drove to a quiet street in Blackheath, south-east London, doused the car in petrol and set it alight, the Old Bailey court was told.
A post mortem examination revealed Singh was still alive when the fire was started.
Prosecutor Aftab Jafferjee told the jury that the attack was carried out to "exact revenge and retribution" on Singh, whom Mahil knew "remained besotted by her".
"At the heart of this case there lies some unattractive and raw human emotions at work", he said.
Mahil, of Chatham in Kent, Shoker, of Greenwich, south-east London, and Peters, of Blackheath, all deny murder.
"Gagandip Singh was plainly, on the evidence, besotted with her," Jafferjee told jurors of the relationship that began in 2009.
Singh, 21, wooed Mahil with gifts, while she provided him with emotional support - particularly when his father was murdered on a visit to India in September 2009 - and would spend hours chatting with him on the phone and internet, the court heard.
Singh's father's packaging business had been turning over more than two million pounds a year when money started going missing from the firm.
His accountant was based in India and the father went to investigate but was murdered there. His son took over the firm and also started the Sikh TV channel on Sky, the report said.
However Gagandip's relationship with his girlfriend Mahil broke down in August 2010 after Singh "attempted to rape" her in her student house.
A housemate, Becky Edwards, described Mahil as an "agony aunt" and said: "During our first year she talked to him about very intimate, personal things.
"He was a millionaire who offered her lots of gifts which she refused. After his father died they became closer and he was dependent on her".
But Jafferjee said the attempted rape changed everything.
He said: "It is common ground that he tried to have sex with her by getting into her bed.
"She forced him away, he broke down in tears and he left".
Mahil became increasingly upset and angry, and spurned Singh's attempts to strike up further contact with her, jurors were told.