Daily Mail Reporter
The family of a young mother found dying in a street with serious head wounds and her right hand cut off has said she had 'lived in fear for months'. Geeta Aulakh, who has two young sons, died four hours later in hospital from her horrific injuries. Police later arrested her estranged husband, 31-year-old Harpreet Aulakh, along with five other men.
Mrs Aulakh was on her way home from her job as a receptionist at community radio station Sunrise Radio when she was attacked.The 28-year-old was ambushed just yards from the home of her sons' childminder at about 7pm on Monday. A passer-by found her unconsciousness and bleeding heavily, and called an ambulance to the street in Greenford, West London.
But Mrs Aulakh died in the early hours of yesterday, just as her mother arrived at her bedside at Charing Cross Hospital.She was separated from her husband, whom she had married against her parents' wishes.
The couple were believed to be in the middle of divorce proceedings. Police are investigating several theories behind the murder, including bringing dishonour on the family. She had been too scared to go to the police, her sister Anita Shinh told the London Evening Standard, even though she had felt threatened for months. Ms Shinh added: 'She feared for her life but she wasn't able to talk about it to anyone. She didn't want to worry us'.
A friend said: 'It's horrific but hugely symbolic that Geeta's right hand was cut off.'She was a Sikh and all Sikhs wear a metal bangle, the kara, on their right wrist.
'It is a permanent reminder to live a moral and good life and once it's on you can't get it off. So her murderer was both dishonouring her and perhaps tryingto show she had been dishonourable - which is just barbaric.
'We are all shocked and distraught by her murder as she was such a warm and friendly person, who lived for her sons.' Mrs Aulakh grew up in Southall, West London, in a middle-class family with two brothers and two sisters. At the family home last night, a large number of relatives had gathered.Ms Shinh paid tribute to her sister and said she hoped the 'savage animals' who carried out the attack will be brought to justice.
She said: 'We will miss her for ever. We just cannot believe that these savage animals could have carried out this brutal attack on someone we loved so much. This will be with us for the rest of our lives.
'The entire family are utterly distraught. This is a bad nightmare we feel we may never wake up from. My mother has not stopped crying since she found out.
'All we can hope for now is that witnesses come forward and bring these people to justice. We were told people were on the scene trying to resuscitate her. I hope they will come forward.'
She added: 'Geeta was always smiling. She was one of the kindest people you could ever come across. She has left two young boys behind but they are too small to know what has happened. She loved them more than anything'.
But friends said jobless Mr Aulakh was devastated when she left and was trying to win his wife back.
Dr Avtar Lit, chairman of Sunrise Radio in Southall, said Mrs Aulakh had married her estranged husband against the wishes of her family. 'She was strong willed and didn't want an arranged marriage,' Dr Lit added.
Mrs Aulakh had moved out last year with the couple's two young sons, nine-year-old Karan and Tejdeep, eight.
'She fell for this man when she was very young. Her parents didn't think he was good enough for her, and they said he was " unproductive".