Forensic expert tells court that pregnant Canadian Sikh woman was strangled, burned

Victoria (British Columbia, Canada), - The Supreme Court in the Canadian province of British Columbia has been told that by a forensic pathologist that a pregnant Canadian Sikh woman was strangled and burned before her body was deposited on a beach.

Dr. Charles Lee provided the testimony in B.C. Supreme Court on Wednesday at the second-degree murder trial of Mukhtiar Panghali.

According to the Globe and Mail, Panghali has been accused of killing his wife, Manjit.

Manjit went missing on October 18, 2006, after apparently telling her husband she was going to a prenatal class. The elementary school teacher’s body was found on a South Delta beach five days later.

Cell phone records will help prove man killed pregnant wife.

Dr. Lee performed an autopsy on Manjit Panghali’s body and told the court he found bruises and bone fractures in her neck.

“Those features are typically seen in cases of strangulation,” he said.

In sometimes grisly testimony, Dr. Lee said Ms. Panghali’s back and pelvis in particular suffered a great deal of fire damage. Her eyes were also burned away.

Dr. Lee said Ms. Panghali was likely dead before she was burned because there was no soot in her airway.

Dr. Lee, who works for Vancouver General Hospital and has testified at a number of trials.

He said Ms. Panghali’s fetus was 16 to 20 weeks old at the time of death. He said the fetus appeared to be female. (ANI)