Guest was hitman who murdered bride

The husband of a young woman who was murdered in what he believes was a so-called honour killing has spoken of his anguish for the first time. Anita Gindha Ralh, 22, was strangled in front of her 19-month-old son two weeks before she was due to give birth to a daughter.

Her husband, Kashmir Ralh, told how he had welcomed her killer into his home and treated him as a friend. He had so much respect for Palwinder Dhillon, 65, that he used to call him "uncle".

Dhillon was sentenced to life at the Old Bailey last week for the murder. Although the Crown was unable to put forward a motive, the jury was told Mr Ralh believes Dhillon was recruited as a hitman by his wife's family because she had "married in a love match rather than an arranged one".

Mr Ralh said today: "That man was in my house and ate my food and yet he came to my house and ruined my family.

"I had no reason to think there was anything wrong with him. He had been to our home several times. He was always very polite.

"He was respected in the community and as he was so well-liked I used to call him 'uncle' - but he did this. It is hard to believe."

The couple had been married just over two years, after Mrs Ralh ran away from an arranged marriage to wed her true love.

Her decision had caused a rift with her family but they had come to accept the union.

Mrs Ralh, a Buddhist, was brought up by her aunt in Glasgow after her parents parted. At the age of 18 a marriage was arranged - her aunt claims it was a love match - and Mrs Ralh was sent to the Punjab to meet the man she was supposed to marry. She returned engaged but deeply unhappy.

A month later she was put in touch with Mr Ralh, a Sikh construction worker, by a mutual friend and though for a time they didn't meet in person, they quickly became close. They talked on the phone daily - and sometimes through the night - and exchanged letters and photos.

Eventually she begged her father to release her from the arranged match as she did not love her fiancé® He told her: "First comes marriage, then comes love." She responded by catching a train to King's Cross where she was met by Mr Ralh. It was the first time they had seen each other.

Her relatives scoured Glasgow, offering cash to anybody who might know where she had gone. They besieged her with pleas and threats to try to halt the marriage and she became so intimidated she sought police help.

Mr Ralh says he was also threatened and claims on one occasion her aunt told him: "Wherever you are we will find you. I will not leave you alone."

Four days after they met face to face, the couple married at a Sikh temple in Wolverhampton. "My wife was afraid to go out," said Mr Ralh. "She didn't like going out in the dark, even to hang clothes out to dry. She felt her family could find us and beat us up, or worse."

As the couple settled into married life in London, Mrs Ralh's family appeared to have dropped their opposition. She was soon pregnant and the couple bought a house in Manor Park. They invited friends and colleagues in to celebrate. That was the first time illegal immigrant Dhillon, a Sikh who had worked for Mr Ralh as a builder, entered their home.

Dhillon, who lived in Walsall in the West Midlands, came round a second time with his brother, a close friend of Mr Ralh, for a dinner party and on a third occasion for the wake of Mr Ralh's father.

Four weeks later he returned while Mr Ralh was out and strangled Mrs Ralh leaving her dead on the sofa beside her sobbing son. He fled with jewellery worth £200 and went on the run.

"My heart is broken and I feel a piece of me has died," said Mr Ralh, 32. "I lie awake at night and the question that keeps coming back to me is: 'Why did this happen?' No one can give me an answer, but I won't be able to rest until I get one. She hadn't done anything wrong. All we wanted was to be together.

"We loved each other intensely. My little boy doesn't really understand what has happened. But he keeps on asking, 'Where's mummy, when is she coming home?'"

Mrs Ralh's father, Mohan Gindha, dismissed the suggestion she was the victim of an "honour killing".

At his home in Glasgow, he said: "Kashmir was working with this man and it is more likely there was an argument between them and that is why this man killed my daughter."