Hannah Foster murder trial begins, Kohli denies charges
It is a sordid drama spanning five years and two countries, but the law has finally caught up with Indian Maninder Pal Singh Kohli who is being tried In Britain for raping and murdering 17-year-old Hannah Foster in 2003.
Kohli, 40, who had escaped to India immediately after the murder, was extradited to Britain last year. He went on trial at the Winchester Crown Court Tuesday but denies all charges.
On March 14, 2003 Hannah, a high school A-level student, was walking to her Southampton home after a night-out with her friends when she was bundled into a van. Her body was found in the city's outskirts three days later. Her handbag was recovered from a recycling plant in Portsmouth.
The handbag contained Hannah's mobile phone, which gave the police clinching evidence of her fate. While in the van with the kidnapper, Hannah had dialled the emergency services number 999, hoping someone would hear their conversation and rescue her, reports The Guardian.
Unfortunately for her, a system to prevent accidentally dialled emergency phone lines discarded the call. However, as all calls are recorded, there existed a recording of her call. Police heard bits of conversation between Hannah and the kidnapper who spoke "with a deep accent". Her parents identified her voice.
In the early morning of March 15, Hannah's mother was worried not finding her daughter home. She called Hannah's mobile, but there was no response.
The same morning Kohli had returned to work in a sandwich factory as usual. He, however, asked a friend for money to go to India to see his ill mother. On March 18, a day after Hannah's handbag was recovered, Kohli flew to India, leaving his wife and two children behind.
The police remained clueless about Kohli's whereabouts, although they had recovered his van. On March 26, 2003 a Crimewatch appeal issued in the media caught the attention of Kohli's employer who, having noticed his behaviour and sudden departure around the same time as the crime, called the police.
DNA samples of Kohli taken from his wife and children matched with the DNA marks on Hannah's body and his van.
An arrest warrant was issued on April 3, 2003, and more than a year later, on July 15 2004, Kohli was captured by Indian police and was finally extradited from India to Britain on July 28, 2007.
Maninder Pal Singh Kohli, a 41-year-old sandwich delivery driver, was convicted today at Winchester Crown Court in Hampshire, United Kingdom for the murder and rape of teenager Hannah Foster. The 17-year-old girl was walking home from a night out in Southampton on March 14, 2003, but never returned home. Her body was found two days later, on Allington Lane in West End, a village just outside the city.
Map showing location of Hampshire
According to court records, Hannah had spent the evening with friends just a short distance from the family home in Portswood and was snatched by Kohli just yards away from her house. She was able to call 999, the emergency services line, hoping that the operator would hear what was happening. However, with nobody actually on the line an automatic system led the call to be terminated. After dumping her body, Kohli went home to his wife and children, before fleeing to India four days later.
Kohli spent sixteen months running from authorities, during which he remarried. Eventually he was arrested in a joint operation between Hampshire Constabulary and Indian police. Shortly thereafter, he gave, then retracted, a televised confession of the murder.

Kohli remained in custody in India while Hilary and Trevor Foster, the victim's parents, campaigned for his extradition to the UK to face trial. The campaign was eventually successful and Kohli arrived in Britain in 2007. He has been sentenced to life imprisonment and will serve a minimum of 24 years.

"Today we are feeling an overwhelming sense of relief at the verdict in this trial," said Trevor Foster in a statement to the press. "We have long realised that Kohli is a cold, calculating and totally ruthless man."