GRIEVING mother Hilary Foster yesterday condemned the "evil stranger" who raped and murdered her beautiful 17-year-old daughter like a "lamb to the slaughter".
But the family of Hannah Foster said they were dismayed Maninder Pal Singh Kohli would not end his days in prison and could be released after serving a minimum life sentence of 24 years.
Mrs Foster, 52, and Hannah's sister Sarah, 20, wept while being comforted by father Trevor as the jury returned guilty verdicts for the murder, rape, kidnap and false imprisonment of their "darling little girl".
The drama in Winchester Crown Court continued as Jill Lewis, Mrs Foster's sister and Hannah's aunt, read out a victim impact statement which left many jurors in tears.
It was the culmination of a five-and-a-half-year battle for justice by Hannah's family.
Kohli, 41, a married father of two young boys, showed no emotion, except for a brief shake of the head, as the verdicts were delivered.
The sandwich delivery driver snatched the A-Level student, who wanted to be a doctor, yards from her home in Southampton on 14 March, 2003.
He raped her several times in his Ford Transit van before strangling her because he feared she would identify him. He dumped her body by the side of a country lane six miles from her home.
Four days later, he fled to India and went on the run for 16 months, during which he married again.
Only the persistence of Hannah's parents, who travelled to India to appeal directly for help from local people, led to the bigamist's arrest. It was another three years before he became the first Indian national to be extradited to the UK to stand trial.
During the six-week trial, the family attended most days, only leaving during distressing evidence, including a 999 call made by Hannah. Tragically, the call was cut off by an automatic system because Hannah did not speak directly to the operator.
Maninder Pal Singh Kohli was described by the judge as a heartless and contemptible man
Sentencing Kohli, the judge, Mr Justice Keith, told him: "The jury saw through your lies and you stand there exposed as a heartless and contemptible man who abducted and raped an attractive 17-year-old girl with everything to live for and then callously and quite premeditatedly took her life so she would not be able to point the finger of guilt at you."
Outside court, Mr Foster, 58, an auditor, said the sentence did not fit the crime, as Kohli would be given a "second chance" when he was released.
Holding the hands of his daughter and wife, a cardiac nurse, he said: "We cannot accept, and never will be able to accept, how a complete stranger can abduct, rape and murder your teenage daughter, still a child in the eyes of the law, and yet not end his days in prison.
"The punishment should fit the crime. In this case, it most certainly did not."
Kohli had claimed he himself had been abducted, tied up and forced to have sex with Hannah because he owed a work colleague £16,000.
He was identified as a suspect after a BBC Crimewatch appeal. Detectives then found Hannah's DNA in his van and his semen on her body with a DNA match probability of a billion to one. Hannah's mobile phone was also tracked moving along motorways in Hampshire at the same time as Kohli's van was spotted by CCTV cameras.
CCTV footage from a garage also placed his van in the vicinity of the lane where Hannah's body was found.
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Hannah Foster's mother's victim impact statement in full•
How a grieving family moved the Indian nation to join fight for justiceThe full article contains 619 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
