By Rebecca Henely
A Woodside man who stabbed his wife to death and then attacked his then-7-year-old daughter was sentenced to 25 years in prison Feb. 1, the Queens district attorney’s office said. The man, Indian immigrant Balbir Singh, pleaded guilty to manslaughter last month for his 2008 crime, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said.
Queens Supreme Court Justice Kenneth Holder imposed Singh’s sentence last week, the DA said. Singh also pleaded guilty before Holder last month, the DA said. In a statement after the plea, the DA said the plea bargain would ensure that Singh’s daughter, Bubita Rani, would not have to testify about seeing her mother’s death.
Singh had been arguing with his wife, Kulwinder Kaur, at their home on 64th Street and 35th Avenue April 6, 2008, when Singh stabbed Kaur in the chest, breast, upper right shoulder and upper back, the DA said. When Kaur was found, she also had 17 additional knife injuries that appeared to be defensive wounds, the DA said.
When Bubita attempted to help her mother, Singh stabbed her on the forearm the DA said. Bubita’s injury required 11 stitches, the DA said.
Singh was arrested the day of the crime and Kaur was pronounced dead at Elmhurst Hospital, the DA said in an earlier interview with TimesLedger Newspapers. When Singh was arrested, he was charged with murder, assault, endangering the welfare of a child and criminal possession of a weapon, the DA said.
“The lengthy prison sentence imposed today by the court is more than justified,” Brown said in a statement. “The defendant not only violently attacked and killed his wife in front of their young daughter, but also turned his knife on the child when she came to her mother’s aid.”
In previous interviews with TimesLedger, relatives of the couple described Singh as a man with drinking problems and said he would initiate fights with his wife and children. Kaur’s brother described her as a happy woman who liked to play with her children.
Reach reporter Rebecca Henely by e-mail at rhenely@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4564.
