The Independent, 14 December 2008

Ten years ago Surjit Athwal kissed her seven-year-old daughter goodbye in their Middlesex home and told her that she'd be back soon. The 27-year-old customs officer left with her mother-in-law to attend a family wedding in India. Her children never saw her again.

They were told their mother had abandoned them to live with another man. All her photographs and clothes were taken away; it was as if she had never existed.

In 2007, after years of campaigning by her brother, Jagdeesh Singh, Surjit's husband and mother-in-law were convicted for conspiracy to murder and jailed for 27 and 20 years respectively. Surjit Athwal had been taken to India under false pretences where she had been drugged, strangled and thrown into a river in the name of family honour. Her crime: she wanted to divorce her abusive husband and start a new life with her children.

But her daughter, Pavan, now 17, had been fed a web of lies by her grandmother and accepted her father's claims that the conviction was a mistake. She visited her father in Belmarsh Prison while trying to keep up at school and looking after her younger brother.

It was in August this year, nearly a decade after her mother supposedly abandoned her, that Pav discovered the truth.

In her first interview, Pav said: "For years I was told that my mum didn't love us any more and that we should just forget about her. My brother and I grew up hating her because we thought she'd just left us; why would we doubt our dad?

"But after I moved out of my uncle's house in April, they started to threaten me with violence and I began to realise what they were capable of. My aunt Sarbjit told me everything that had happened but it was when I read my mum's diary that it really hit me. I felt terrible. I was so angry at my dad for telling such terrible lies but I also felt guilty. I wanted to tell my mum that I was sorry for hating her all these years. We used to have so much fun together, even though I know now that she was really unhappy."

The 17-year-old A-level student will be reunited with her 10-year-old brother whom she has not seen since she discovered the truth three months ago. Last week he was placed with foster carers and neither now has any contact with their father.

Pav said: "It's such a relief to know that my brother is safe. It feels like a huge pressure has been lifted from my shoulders. I know telling him the truth is going to be a huge hurdle but I can't wait to see him again and start living our lives without all the lies."

Pav has organised a memorial service at Heathrow airport this evening – where Surjit used to work – to mark the 10th anniversary of her mother's death. She is now trying to raise £10,000 to bring the Punjab-based killers to justice. Donations can be made here .