Indian American Man Kills Daughter-in-Law Over Divorce Plan: What We Know So Far

Sital Dosanjh was arrested for killing his daughter-in-law in a Walmart parking lot in California where she worked

Sital Singh Dosanjh killed Gurpreet Kaur Dosanjh, his daughter in law, on Friday, 30 September.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

A 74-year-old Indian American man was arrested on Saturday, 1 October, in California after he shot dead his daughter-in-law, allegedly due to his anger over her intention to divorce his son, media reports said. 

Sital Singh Dosanjh killed Gurpreet Kaur Dosanjh, his daughter in law, on Friday in a parking lot outside the Walmart grocery store, where she worked, The East Bay Times, a local newspaper, reported. 

The Incident

Police reports stated that Gurpreet initially saw Sital driving in the parking lot, an indication that he travelled close to 240 km to find her. 

Gurpreet’s uncle told police officials that his niece sounded “frightened” and added that Sital was approaching her car, where she was taking a break from work.  That was the last thing the uncle said he heard before the phone call disconnected. 

Close to five hours later, a co-worker from Walmart found Gurpreet’s deceased body in her car, inside the same parking lot where her father-in-law was seen. Gurpreet suffered at least one gunshot wound and was pronounced dead at the scene. 

According to the police report summary, Gurpreet’s uncle said that his niece “was in the process of divorcing (the) suspect’s son” and added that the husband and his father lived in the Californian city of Fresno, while Gurpreet lived in San Jose. 

While homicide detectives and other officials investigated the shooting, Gurpreet’s uncle, the last person to hear from her, drove from the Central Valley to the crime scene, and helped investigators formally identify Sital Dosanjh as the prime suspect. 

The Police Investigation 

The next morning, the police arrested Sital from his residence in Fresno.  During a subsequent search of his home, police recovered a .22 calibre Baretta pistol, according to the police investigative summary. 

The Santa Clara District Attorney’s office filed murder charges against Sital Dosanjh on Wednesday. 

Sital was transported to the San Jose Main Jail, where he is currently being held without bail. During his arraignment, the formal reading of charges against a suspect, he was seen wearing a red jumpsuit, which is reserved for high security inmates. 

Wearing a blue surgical mask, Sital remained silent through the arraignment and did not enter a plea, forcing the court to order his return on 14 November. 

Detectives discovered surveillance footage that showed Sital Dosanjh’s black pickup truck entering the Walmart parking lot, driving close to his daughter-in-law’s car, and subsequently leaving the lot. 

Detectives also determined that the license plate reading cameras in the city of Gilroy, surveillance cameras on Pacheco Pass, a mountain pass, and Sital  phone records charted his drive to Fresno over a few hours.

(With inputs from PTI and The East Bay Times)