The mother of a Sydney man accused of burning his wife to death has told a jury she never saw him treat her with anything but affection.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
"Both of them loved each other a lot," Ranjit Kaur told the NSW Supreme Court jury on Thursday.
She was giving evidence at the trial of her son, Kulwinder Singh, 41, who has pleaded not guilty to murdering Parwinder Kaur, 32, in December 2013.
She sustained burns to 90 per cent of her body in the petrol-fuelled blaze at their Rouse Hill home.
The Crown alleges Singh was responsible for her death but he told police "she did it to herself" while he was upstairs.
The dead woman's relatives have testified to seeing Singh grab his wife, of seeing her with bruises she said were caused by her husband, and of her having said he swore at her.
But her mother-in-law, who lived with the couple at various stages, testified to having never seen her son hit or beat his wife with a thong, push or mistreat her, or swear at her.
Ms Kaur said she also worked at the same mushroom farm as her daughter-in-law and employees would sometimes bump themselves when climbing onto the platforms.
The dead woman's brother, Sukhvinder Singh, had previously told the jury his sister had to do the cooking, washing and cleaning for the whole family, which included her in-laws when they lived there.
But Ranjit Kaur on Thursday said her daughter-in-law did not wash everyone's clothes, used a washing machine and was not forced to do washing by hand, and shared in the cooking.
"There was no complaint," she said, speaking through a Punjabi interpreter.
"There was noting going on. It was like a happy family."
The trial continues.
Australian Associated Press