West London husband-and-wife Kavaljitsinh Mahendrasinh Raijada, 30, and Arti Dhir, 55, are accused of plotting the hit-man murder of her 11-year-old adopted son Gopal Sejani in India in a report by The Mirror.
The couple is accused of arranging a hit on the child in India from the UK so they could claim a life insurance payout.
Former Heathrow baggage handler Dhir and her husband are alleged to have ordered a hitman to carry out the killing in India, which also resulted in Gopal Sejani’s brother-in-law’s death.
However, the UK courts have upheld a decision the pair cannot be deported back to India to face the charges, concluding that it would breach their human rights.
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The Indian government had appealed the UK courts’ decision in a bid to bring the two suspects back to face charges, but its attempt has failed, according to a judgment published this week.
The pair allegedly stood to gain a life insurance payout of about £150,000 in the event of Gopal’s death with his adoptive mother, Kenyan-born Dhir the sole beneficiary as reported in the Daily Mail.
They faced extradition to India for a raft of charges, including conspiracy to commit murder, attempted murder, kidnapping, and abduction for the purpose of committing murder and abetting a crime.
The couple has resisted attempts to extradite to India, arguing they could face life imprisonment in India if they were convicted over the two deaths, as local laws would prevent them from ever being released.
The pair made the case that the risk of permanent imprisonment in Gujarat would breach the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
They added that they could not afford adequate legal representation for the case abroad, and faced a long period of detention in India while they awaited trial.
The High Court judgment outlines the allegations against the pair, who reports say placed an advert in a local paper in the Gujarat town of Keshod to adopt a child to bring home to London.
After the couple walked free from the court the decision sparked anger with Tory MP Tim Loughton and he said:
“Do we really want suspected child killers roaming the streets of London. This is an absolutely heinous crime and I think many people would agree there needs to be the harshest of sentences if they are found guilty. It is up to the Indian legal system to decide on the appropriate penalty and we should not be standing in the way of justice being served for the victims.”
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