Circle of Light

Born into a privileged family in India, Kiranjit Ahluwalia came to England in 1979 to be married to a man she had met only once. The next ten years were to be a nightmare of almost daily, physical, mental and sexual violence at the hands of her husband. Isolated by a society in which wife-beating was regarded as a normal part of life, Kiranjit, in desperation, killed the man who had tortured her for so long. Bewildered, poorly advised and speaking little English, she was sentenced to life imprisonment for murder. In prison, she unexpectedly found a degree of freedom she had never known in the outside world. For the first time she was safe from beatings and abuse, and was able to make friends with other women - including Sara Thornton, still imprisoned for an offence similar to her own. Meanwhile, a campaign to secure a retrial was gathering momentum. Media coverage of her plight had made Kiranjit something of a "cause celebre", and she was attracting many prominent supporters. The case against her was finally dismissed in September 1992, and she was released amid scenes of rejoicing.