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Parents Accused of Starving Child on Butter, Lentils Diet
23 Mar
Summary
- Couple allegedly starved daughter, 3, on restrictive diet.
- Child died from severe malnutrition and ketoacidosis.
- Parents denied murder and child cruelty charges.
A vegetarian couple, Manpreet Jatana, 34, and Jaskiret Singh Uppal, 36, have been accused of starving their three-year-old daughter, Penelope Chandle, to death. The child, born in 2019, allegedly died from severe malnutrition and ketoacidosis. Her body was discovered at her home in Hayes, west London, on December 17, 2023, after her mother contacted a funeral director.
Prosecution claims the couple, both of Indian heritage, deliberately starved Penelope on a diet predominantly of butter, lentils, and yogurt. The court heard that neither parent was employed at the time of the child's death and that they were isolated from wider family and the outside world.
Jatana and Singh Uppal appeared at the Old Bailey via video link, denying murder and alternative charges including manslaughter by gross negligence and causing or allowing the death of a child. They also denied child cruelty.
An eight-week trial is expected to commence on January 11, 2027. Judge Mark Lucraft remanded both defendants into custody ahead of a further case management hearing scheduled for July 17, 2026.
