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Content warning: this article contains descriptions of domestic homicide
On 31st January 2021, the body of Ranjit Gill was found in her garage by Thames Valley Police. She had been wrapped in a duvet and black bin liners. The 43-year-old was married to her husband, Anil Gill, and they lived together in Milton Keynes. The post-mortem showed that Ms Gill’s death was caused by multiple stab wounds, and the police noted that “significant injuries” were visible on her body.
Mr Gill was arrested on suspicion of murdering his wife, after calling the police to report her murder. He initially denied any accusations of murder, but later admitted to a lesser charge of manslaughter. He was later charged with one count of murder on 1st February 2021. Detective Inspector Nicola Douglas of the Thames Valley Police’s Major Crimes Unit, and the lead investigator on the case, explained that, after stabbing Ms Gill 18 times, her husband spent the next several hours cleaning up the crime scene, and hiding her body in the garage, before going to bed. He called police the next morning to report the murder, blaming Ms Gill for his violent behaviour.
Luton Crown Court heard that, for the past several years, Ms Gill was regularly shouted at and physically abused by her “dominating and bullying” husband. The prosecutor disclosed a long history of domestic violence, including Mr Gill threatening his wife with knives, hitting her across the back with a wooden plank, and pushing her down the stairs. Reports show that the police were called to the home in October 2018 due to concerns about domestic violence, but Ms Gill did not disclose any abuse to the officers at that time. On the night of the murder, evidence showed that Mr Gill was intoxicated with alcohol and cocaine. He told the court that he had felt “worthless” as she told him about her extra-marital affairs and went into a “frenzy” when he attacked her. A neighbour reportedly heard female screams at 1 am that night.
The jury found Anil Gill guilty of murdering his wife; on 15th November 2021, he was sentenced to life in prison, with a minimum of 22 years. The defendant claimed to have lost all self-control, and claims to have been provoked to attack Ms Gill, as she supposedly taunted him about not satisfying her sexual needs. The judge dismissed these excuses, deeming Mr Gill “ruthless” and “cold-blooded”.
The murder of Ranjit Gill adds to the list of women who have been killed by men in Britain this year. However, this homicide has received notably less media attention compared to other cases such as the murder of Sarah Everard. Mainstream media often take longer to report stories of BAME women who have been subjected to violence: a trend that is possibly due to underlying issues around racism and misogyny. This phenomenon is known as “Missing White Woman” syndrome: a term that refers to the disparity in media coverage dedicated to missing-person cases involving white, upper-middle- class women or girls and those involving people of colour or of lower social classes.
One example of the media’s delayed reaction was the reporting of the murder of Sabina Nessa: a woman of Bangladeshi heritage who was murdered in London earlier this year. Some believe that the eventual widespread media coverage her case received was only due to her “respectable” appeal to the media, as she was a university graduate and schoolteacher. In the case of Ms Gill, claims of cocaine consumption and extramarital affairs may have swayed the media away from telling her story, expecting an unsympathetic audience to whom this story would have no appeal.
The murder of Ms Gill has served as a stark reminder not only of the dangers of domestic violence, but of the fact that women from BAME backgrounds are more likely to suffer in silence. Sikh Women’s Aid carried out extensive research about the prevalence of domestic and sexual abuse within UK-based Sikh and Punjabi communities for four months, producing their report in the summer of this year. According to the report, Sikh women and those of Punjabi descent, such as Ms Gill, are unlikely to report abuse due to cultural stigma. Violence against women is widely normalised within these communities, and there is insufficient evidence about forms of domestic abuse such as coercive control. According to Dame Vera Baird, the victims’ commissioner for England and Wales, Black and Asian women are deprived of sufficient specialist support, and find themselves neglected by the criminal justice system.