Stabbed mother 'had been domestic violence victim for years'

A mother stabbed to death in the shop where she worked had been subjected to domestic violence for years, her daughter told the Old Bailey.

Varsha Champaclal, 43, was found with her throat cut in the storeroom of Peacocks clothing store in Mitcham, Surrey, in February, last year.

The prosecution allege her rejected call centre worker husband, Thaker Ramanlal, 48, killed her on Friday the 13th after she gained a court order barring him from the house after he attacked her with a hammer.

Daughter Nazari, 21, described how she locked herself in the bathroom and called police during the incident six months before her mother's death.

She said she had tried to stop her father beating her mother up, but this had provoked him more and he ordered her to bring down the youngest child.

"He said 'That's it. All three of you are going to die today. I am going to slam your head with a hammer'.

Tearfully she described other attacks over the years and their fears of what would happen if they called the police.

She had been kicked and punched in the nose in 2001 when she attempted get help.

"He told me 'if you do that again, I will kill you'. I thought no one could protect us."

Ramanlal, of Coombe Lane, Kingston, Surrey, denies murder but claims he should be found guilty of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.