An Indian man in the UK, who stabbed his wife multiple times before driving to a nearby street where he left her body on the pavement has been jailed after pleading guilty to murder.
Kashish Aggarwal, 28, attacked his wife Geetika Goyal at their home in Wintersdale Road, Leicester, on the evening of Wednesday 3 March 2021 before putting her body into the boot of her car and driving around half a mile to Uppingham Close, where he left her body on the street before driving back home.
Trying to cover his tracks, Kashish then made calls to his Geetika’s phone and to family and friends reporting his concern that he had not seen his wife since arriving home from work that evening.
In just over 7 months, on October 18, at Leicester Crown Court, Kashish was sentenced to life imprisonment to serve a minimum of 20 years and six months after previously pleading guilty to the murder of Mrs Goyal.
Following the (now fake) concern raised by Kashish, Geetika’s brother had reported his sister missing to police just before 9pm on 3 March. Police attended the home and enquiries were carried out.
At the time of police attending, Kashish was at a neighbouring property checking their CCTV.
A murder investigation was launched with Kashish Aggarwal initially being treated as a significant witness.
At 2.25am the following morning, police received a call from a member of the public reporting that a woman was lying on the pavement in Uppingham Close. Police attended to that call and found Geetika’s body with multiple stab wounds to her neck, shoulder, chest and arm.
East Midlands Ambulance Service were also in attendance and Geetika Goyal was pronounced dead at the scene.
Following that, Kashish was arrested on suspicion of murder.
Kashish, despite being arrested, initially did not tell the truth.
He told police he had arrived home from work at around 7.30pm on the Wednesday evening and had gone straight to have a shower. He said it was around an hour later that he realised he had not seen his wife and so started making calls to family and friends.
The police force’s Murder Investigation Team conducted forensic searches including a search inside the home where blood was found including in the dining room and garage.
CCTV enquiries also showed Kashish driving Geetika’s car to deposit her body. This included CCTV of Kashish turning the car around in the driveway at the home during the evening so that the vehicle boot was facing the property.
He was then seen to drive the car away at 8.14pm, arriving in Uppingham Close at 8.17pm where he deposited Geetika’s body. He then arrived back at the family home at 8.21pm.
Blood was found in the vehicle.
CCTV analysis tracked the vehicle movements of Kashish on the evening of 3 March including leaving his home and driving along Wintersdale Road.
CCTV showed the vehicle stopping in Uppingham Close which was where Kashish left Geetika’s body.
The vehicle was followed on CCTV and seen arriving back at Wintersdale Road shortly after.
Also read: Indian man jailed for 26 years for killing his wife
Kashish was then charged with Geetika’s murder on Saturday 6 March and remanded into custody.
Sentencing Kashish to a minimum term of 20 years and six months behind bars, Judge Timothy Spencer QC said he (Kashish) clearly “harboured very dark thoughts” during the lead up to the killing.
Kashish had booked a flight to India, for March 5, as an “escape route” two weeks earlier.
Kashish and Geetika were married in an arranged marriage. Kashish’s family lives in Jalandhar (Punjab India) while Geetika’s family who have a textile business in Leicester (locally where she lived after marriage) hailed from Phillaur in Punjab, India not far from Jalandhar.
While Geetika worked at her family’s textile business, husband Kashish worked at Amazon in Coalville.
On the day Geetika was killed, she was her “usual happy self” and returned home at the usual time at 5.30pm.
Geetika spoke to her mother on the phone at 6pm and made a missed call to a friend at 7pm.
Kashish came home at 7.30pm and was caught on CCTV reversing Geetika’s car to have the boot of the car facing the garage door.
Judge Spencer told Kashish: “In the next hour you killed your wife.
“It was a brutal and merciless killing and you stabbed her repeatedly, concentrating on her neck and upper chest area.”
When Kashish Aggarwal killed his wife Geetika Goyal, she suffered at least 19 separate wounds including a severed jugular vein and a deep chest wound, caused by an eight-inch chef’s knife.
Detective Inspector Jenni Heggs, from the East Midlands Special Operations Unit, was the Senior Investigating Officer in the case.
After the Court sentenced Kashish Aggarwal for killing wife Geetiak Goyal to twenty years and six months, Detective Inspector Jenni Heggs said: “Today my thoughts are with Geetika Goyal and her family. Geetika was just 29-years-old when a person, who she should have been able to rely on and trust, violently attacked her in her own home before ultimately dumping her body in a nearby street. Aggarwal showed no remorse and was only interested in trying to cover his own tracks pretending to family, friends and the police that he had no idea what had happened to his wife. He continued to change his version of events a number of times when being interviewed by police.
“Today’s hearing sadly will not bring Geetika back but I do hope it helps Geetika’s family in some small way to see that justice has been done for their daughter and sister who lost her life in this most horrendous way.
“My thanks do go to Geetika’s family for their bravery, patience and co-operation with us during the past eight months as well as to all those who helped us during the investigation including witnesses and the local community. My thanks also go to the investigating team who have worked tirelessly across the past eight months, remaining dedicated to ensure the right plea was made in court and that Aggarwal was convicted of this brutal crime.”