Abbotsford husband pleads guilty in wife’s killing from 2022

A husband who was charged in the killing of his wife in Abbotsford in 2022 has pleaded guilty.

On July 28, 2022, Abbotsford police responded to a call about an assault at a home on Eastview Street, near George Ferguson Way and Ware Street.

When officers arrived, they found 45-year-old Kamaljit Kaur Sandhu suffering from life-threatening injuries. She died shortly after.

Forty-eight-year-old Inderjit Singh Sandhu, Kamaljit’s husband, was arrested at the scene.

On Saturday, homicide police said Inderjit had entered a guilty plea to second-degree homicide.

No date has been set for a sentencing hearing.

At the time of the homicide, advocates raised concerns about rising statistics of intimate partner violence during the pandemic, something the police backed as well.

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RCMP investigators said they saw a spike in violent domestic incidents beginning with the pandemic.

“Intimate partner violence is, unfortunately, one of these crimes that is continuous,” Cpl. Alexa Hodgins with Burnaby RCMP said.

“We did see an uptick during the pandemic, which was mostly led because people were at home and we actually had neighbours reporting it more than the individuals. And its still continuing even as we ease out of the restrictions.”

Angela Marie MacDougall, with Battered Women’s Support Services, said the rising number of killings at the time was “concerning.”

“It’s so concerning,” she said in 2022. “More than last year, more than the year before, and thus far there has been no action taken in terms of government policies to increase services, both provincially and federally.”

Numbers from the Canadian Femicide Observatory showed 88 women and girls were killed in Canada in the first six months of 2022.

Most of the alleged perpetrators are men, according to the organization.

On average, it said one woman or girl is killed every other day in Canada.

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If you or someone you know is involved in an abusive situation, please visit the Canadian Resource Centre for Victims of Crime for help. They are also reachable toll-free at 1-877-232-2610.

— With files from Amy Judd