An abusive husband, forced out of the family home following a hammer attack on his wife, butchered her with a kitchen knife at work – slashing her throat a mere feet from colleagues.
Horrified staff at the boutique discovered the blood-soaked body of 43 year-old Varsha Champaclal in the rear of the busy store moments after the fatal attack, carried out by her estranged husband.
Call-centre worker Thaker Kardam Ramanlal, 48, of Coombe Lane, Kingston, Surrey, was sentenced to life imprisonment after an Old Bailey jury convicted him of murder.
Varsha (pic. l.) split with Ramanlal (pic. r.) in August 2008, but on February 13, last year at Peacocks, Majestic Way, Mitcham, Surrey, she was followed to the back of the shop by her ex and killed.
Ramanlal admitted the crime, but tried to dodge a life sentence by only admitting manslaughter on grounds of diminished responsibility.
The couple, who have daughters aged 21 and 12, had a stormy marriage with Ramanlal repeatedly bullying and abusing his wife – once breaking her arm.
She called police for the first time when chased out of the family home with a hammer and through the courts forced Ramanlal to move out.
Bitter Ramanlal repeatedly threatened to kill his wife and she voiced concern for the safety of herself and her daughters.
The store’s CCTV cameras show assistant manager Varsha being followed out of sight to the rear by Ramanlal, who then leaves via the back door with the bloody murder weapon into busy surrounding streets.
Workmates quickly found Varsha and raised the alarm, but she was pronounced dead at the scene.
The next day he contacted police confessing he killed his wife and when officers arrived at Ramanlal’s flat he was nursing a superficial wrist wound.
He claimed he was not responsible for his actions and was suffering abnormality of the mind at the time of the murder.
However, he had no previous history of mental illness and had been threatening to kill his wife for some time.
CCTV also showed him buying a knife and a bottle of wine on two occasions and then making his way to his wife's work.
On the first occasion Varsha was nowhere to be seen and he gave up.
Two days later he again bought a knife and bottle of wine and returned to the store to murder his wife.
Detective Inspector Barney Ratcliffe from the Homicide and Serious Crime Command said: "This man was a calculated abuser, who showed no control over his temper or rage towards his family, even throughout this trial.
"The evidence brought to court was totally incriminating and showed that he had been thinking about killing his wife and planned to do so on more than one occasion.
"Tragically, Varsha Champaclal had finally managed to escape her husband's abuse and was starting a new life for herself and her daughters without him.
“I hope today that her daughters can now find a way to move on with their lives safe in the knowledge that their father is imprisoned for a long time."
Ramanlal must serve a minimum of eighteen years.
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