Jasmine Bhambra is an Indian Canadian woman who came into the limelight in 2006 when her sister Manjit Panghali was murdered by Manjit’s husband, Mukhtiar Panghali. During the court trials and at media conferences, Jasmine Bhambra became the voice of Manjit’s family. She was granted the custody of Manjit and Mukhtiar’s little daughter, Maya, in 2007, soon after the arrest of Mukhtiar Panghali in the murder charges of Manjit Panghali.
Wiki/Biography
Jasmine Bhambra was born on Sunday, 14 February 1971 (age 51 years; as of 2022). Her zodiac sign is Aquarius. In 2021, Jasmine completed a Real Estate/Realtor course at UBC Sauder School of Business, University in Vancouver, Canada.
Physical Appearance
Hair Colour: Black
Eye Colour: Black
Family
Parents & Siblings
Her father’s name is Resham Basra, and her mother’s name is Surinder Basra.
Jasmine Bhambra has a brother named Tur Basra. Her sister Manjit Panghali was murdered in 2006.
Husband & Children
Jasmine Bhambra got married to Monty Bhambra on 17 June 2001. The couple has two daughters and a son. The names of her daughters are Saveena Bhambra and Nikki Bhambra. Her son’s name is Rajan Bhambra. The couple has an adopted daughter named Maya. Maya is the daughter of Manjit Panghali and Mukhtiar Panghali. Jasmine was granted custody of Maya in 2007.
Career
Soon after finishing her studies, Jasmine Bhambra started working as an interior designer. Later, she quit interior designing and started her own real estate business in Canada. Jasmine Bhambra is a licensed Real Estate Professional at RE/MAX Little Oak Realty. At Sacred Space Yoga Therapy, she works as a Yoga & Meditation for Trauma, Grief and Resilience instructor. She is a community collaborator at Live in the Fraser Valley. At YogaKids LifeApp, Jasmine Bhambra is a certified YogaKids International teacher.
Manjit Panghali’s Murder
On 18 October 2006, Manjit Panghali, the sister of Jasmine Bhambra, disappeared after attending a prenatal yoga class in Surrey. Manjit was four months pregnant when she went missing. Manjit’s husband, Mukhtiar Panghali, filed the missing complaint of Manjit after 26 hours of her disappearance. After five days, the remains of the burnt body of Manjit were found alongside the Deltaport causeway. Canadian police arrested Mukhtiar Panghali in March 2007 under the murder charges of Manjit.
Custody of Manjit Panghali’s Daughter
Soon after Mukhtiar’s arrest, Manjit’s family and Mukhtiar’s parents fought a legal battle for the custody of the couple’s only daughter Maya. the custody of Maya was granted to Manjit’s sister, Jasmine Bhambra, by the British Columbia Supreme Court in 2007. In a press conference, Jasmine Bhambra stated that Maya’s custody battle was horrific and traumatic. She said,
The custody battle was horrific and very traumatic, having to relive the trauma. It was horrific to see his face all the time. It was the most difficult time of my life.”
Jasmine Bhambra further added that the cultural issues were faced by her when she was fighting for the custody of Manjit’s daughter. She narrated,
“In our culture, the man’s side of the family is seen as the dominant family. A woman adopting a child and bringing it into her new married family is uncommon and often frowned upon, so it was a stressful time in more than one way.”
In a conversation with a media house, Jasmine stated that she often notices the glimpses of Manjit in Maya’s behaviour. She recalled,
Little things — the way she talks, her sense of humour — just the things she says sometimes make me go, ‘Oh my God, that is totally something Manj would have said.”
Jasmine further shared a dream in the same conversation that she had the night before when the custody of Maya was granted to her. She told,
I remember it vividly. We were all sitting around in a circle holding hands, with Maya in the middle, and Manjit just said to me, ‘It’s OK. She’s yours. We won.’
A Program Against Domestic Violence
To help the victims of domestic violence in Canada, Jasmine Bhambra established a private scholarship fund in 2011 that focuses on organising various community groups in Canada along with starting a program to help the victims of domestic violence. In a media conversation, Jasmine expressed her desire that Manjit’s daughter, Maya, would take over the responsibility of that program when she would grow up. She narrated,
I’m hoping that maybe Maya can take over that when she gets older and maybe help out victims of violent crime.”
Facts/Trivia
- Jasmine Bhambra grew up in the Fraser Valley region in Canada.
- Mukhtiar Panghali was sentenced to life imprisonment for second-degree murder charges and interfering with human remains in February 2011.
- According to Jasmine Bhambra, Maya calls Jasmine as mom and her uncle as dad.
- Once Jasmine stated in a media conversation that when Manjit went missing on 18 October 2006, Jasmine went to meet Mukhtiar Panghali after two days to ask about the whereabouts of her sister, but he seemed uninterested in answering the questions. She told,
We went over to the house and he wouldn’t answer any questions. Mr. Panghali seemed curiously uninterested in finding his missing wife. We talked about hiring a private investigator, three times we mentioned it, and he didn’t say a word.”
- A web series titled ‘Til Death Do Us Part: The Murder Of Manjit Basra’ was streamed on Discovery Plus in March 2022, and this web series was based on the murder plot of Manjit Panghali.