A woman destined to restart her life with family in Surrey has been found murdered in the Netherlands.
Kamaljit Kaur, 39, a Dutch citizen for nearly 18 years, was found dead by police Wednesday in the living room of her home in The Hague.
Her brother, Aman Grewal, 23, said Kaur, who separated from her husband in June 2011, had moved her three young children to Surrey later that month.
Two weeks ago, Kaur left her children, aged 12, 10 and five, in the care of her family to make a final return to the Netherlands and settle her affairs, including finalizing her divorce.
“She had gone there to sell her house, sell her car and pretty much close the chapter on Holland and come back here,” Grewal said Saturday.
“She was only supposed to be gone for a week.”
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Instead, local police told the family on Wednesday that she had been found murdered.
Grewal said the family has been in constant contact with Dutch police, but details are scarce.
They have been told that Kaur was murdered between Sunday and Wednesday and that her ex-husband, Balwinder Dhillon – also a Dutch citizen and “a couple years older than Kamal” – is not a suspect, since he has been in prison since June for apparently stabbing Kaur.
“We knew she had been stabbed, but I think she was trying to protect him.”
According to Dutch newspaper de Volkskrant, Dhillon has been jailed for stabbing Kaur.
The newspaper also reported that a 46-year-old man was arrested and held in custody Thursday on suspicion of involvement in the violent murder.
Grewal said that man is expected to be released after questioning.
Kaur and Dhillon had been married since 1994 – the same year the rest of her family came to Canada from India – but their marriage was a rocky one until Kaur left him for good after the June assault.
Kaur, who worked in an Amsterdam hospital as a care aide, always greeted people with a smile, said Grewal.
“She never had any enemies. It’s hard to imagine anybody would do this to her and we just want to find the person who did it and find out why,” he said.
Grewal said he has plans to speak to the RCMP today.
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