An Indian teenager moved to London to become a carer just weeks before she was stabbed to death.
Mehak Sharma, 19, was found with a fatal neck wound at her home in Ash Tree Way, Croydon on Sunday.
Her husband Sahil Sharma, 23, appeared in court on Thursday charged with her murder. He was remanded in custody to appear again at the Old Bailey on 2 February.
Ms Sharma’s mother Madhu Bala told The Indian Panorama she had grown concerned about her daughter after losing contact with her.
“Mehak used to ring me up every morning,” she said. “However, on Sunday [29 October] I did not receive any call. I thought she must be busy. However, when I did not get a call on Monday, I got panicky.
“I asked my relative, who lives about 150km away from Croydon, to visit Mehak. It was in the evening that he rang me and told me that the London Metropolitan Police had taken Sahil into custody after being charged with murder of Mehak.”
She added Ms Sharma was working with Fabulous Homecare Limited, a home care provider operating across south London.
Formerly a resident of Jogi Cheema village in Gurdaspur district of Punjab, she was married on June 24 last year. She had left her rural village to study in London five months after tying the knot.
A special post-mortem examination conducted on Tuesday, 31 October found the cause of death to have been a stab wound to the neck.
Police are appealing for anyone with information about her death to come forward.
A spokesperson said: “Anyone with information that may assist the investigation, including anyone who saw or heard a disturbance on Sunday afternoon at the address in Ash Tree Way, is asked to call police. Any witnesses or anyone with any information is asked to call police on 101 or contact via X (Please quote CAD 4546/29OCT
“To give information anonymously contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 11.”
