Elderly Sikh man in UK pleads guilty to murdering wife

London: A 79-year-old Sikh man has pleaded guilty to murdering his wife with a wooden rounders bat at their Hornchurch home in east London in May this year.

Tarsame Singh appeared at Snaresbrook Crown Court on Monday, where he admitted to killing his 77-year-old wife Maya Devi and will be sentenced at the same court on September 29.

On May 2, Singh walked into the Romford police station and told the front desk that he had just killed his wife, following which officers immediately attended the house on Cowdray Way in Elm Park and found Maya unresponsive on the living room floor.

The wooden rounders bat was found nearby, and police also found significant amounts of blood staining on the carpet and nearby walls.

Maya was pronounced dead at the scene. A post-mortem examination found the cause of death to be blunt force head injuries.

Singh was charged the next day and remanded into custody.

“Singh has never admitted what caused him to act in such a violent way that evening but we are pleased he has pleaded guilty and will now face a significant custodial sentence,” Detective Chief Inspector Mark Rogers of Metropolitan Police, who led the investigation, said.

Singh ran a post office along with his wife in Rainham, an east London suburb close to his home, for many years before recently retiring.

Both Singh and Maya, parents of a son and two daughters, are originally from India but had been living in Britain for more than 50 years.

“This is a tragic case and one which has left the couple’s three children utterly distraught. No-one should ever lose their mother in this way and we will continue to think of, and support them, at this difficult time,” Detective Chief Inspector Rogers said.