Karpal Kaur Sandhu


Karpal Kaur Sandhu was the first female Asian police officer in the world. She served in the Metropolitan Police Service from 1971 to 1973.

History

Sandhu was born in Zanzibar in 1943, before moving to Britain in 1962 and becoming a nurse. She joined the Metropolitan Police Service on 1 February 1971, serving first in Hornsey, then in Walthamstow and Leyton. Her date of joining made her the first female Asian police officer in the world, beating India's Kiran Bedi by just over one year.
Sandhu died in the line of duty on 4 November 1973. Her husband did not agree with her becoming a police officer, and he had taken their two children to India. However, he returned to the UK and confronted her outside her house in Chelmsford Road, Walthamstow. When her husband attacked her, she recalled herself to duty in order to arrest him, but he stabbed her in the neck. In March 1974 he was found guilty of her murder.