On a cold December day in 2023, police responding to a call from a funeral director made a harrowing discovery in a modest home on Pennine Way, Hayes, west London. The body of three-year-old Penelope Chandrie was found wrapped in a sheet, emaciated and bruised, in what authorities would soon describe as one of the most disturbing child neglect cases in recent memory. As details have emerged in the Old Bailey, a grim portrait has come into focus—one of isolation, deprivation, and a family cut off from the world.
According to multiple reports from BBC, MyLondon, and Daily Mail, Penelope’s parents, Jaskiret Singh Uppal, 36, and Manpreet Jatana, 34, are accused of deliberately starving their daughter over many months. Prosecutor Philip McGhee told the court that the couple “mistreated their daughter over an extended period of time and deliberately starved her, leading to her death.” The cause of death, confirmed by post-mortem examination, was malnutrition—specifically, starvation over a prolonged period culminating in fatal ketoacidosis. Experts testified that Penelope’s body showed clear signs of severe malnutrition, with “starvation over a prolonged period of many months culminating in fatal ketoacidosis.”
The tragedy unfolded in near-total secrecy. The couple had failed to register Penelope’s birth, provide her with GP care, or enroll her in any form of education. The court heard that the family had effectively “isolated themselves from the wider world.” Prosecutor McGhee stated, “Neither of the defendants at the time of death were working nor have they worked for some time. They were essentially isolated from not only their wider family but the wider and outside world.”
When Penelope died, the couple’s first instinct, as revealed in court, was not to seek help but to hide what had happened. It is alleged that they initially considered cremating their daughter’s body in the back garden before finally contacting a funeral director. Police officers who arrived at the home on December 17, 2023, found Penelope’s “very emaciated” body wrapped in a sheet, with bruising to her neck and injuries on her hands consistent with a sharp object such as a knife. The house itself was described as being in “poor” condition, reflecting the family’s deteriorating circumstances.
Investigators noted that the family’s vegetarian diet consisted predominantly of yogurt, lentils, and butter. There was little evidence of any other substantial food in the home. According to BBC, “The family’s vegetarian diet mainly consisted of yogurt, lentils and butter.” The prosecution alleges that this restricted diet was not only inadequate but part of a deliberate pattern of neglect. A ligature was found attached to the bannisters on the stairs, and there were marks on Penelope’s neck “consistent with the use of bindings.” Injuries on her hands were described as consistent with a sharp object, adding to the evidence of sustained mistreatment.
The couple, who met at university, had been living in a house owned by Uppal’s father. Neither had been employed for some time, and their social isolation appeared to be both physical and psychological. The court heard that they had cut off contact with their wider family and the outside world. Penelope, whose birth was never registered, had no official presence in the system—no school records, no GP visits, no trace of her existence outside the walls of the family home.
As the case has progressed, the details have only grown more unsettling. The prosecution alleges that the couple’s actions were not the result of ignorance or poverty, but a deliberate and sustained choice. “The prosecution allege that over an extended period of time both defendants deliberately starved the deceased child over time leading to the cause of her death,” McGhee told the Old Bailey. The couple’s reclusiveness, their failure to seek medical care or register their daughter’s birth, and the consideration of cremating her body in secret all point to a pattern of concealment and neglect.
When asked to speak in court, Jaskiret Singh Uppal appeared in the dock, while Manpreet Jatana joined via videolink from Bronzefield Prison. Both spoke only to confirm their identities. The charges against them are grave: murder, manslaughter, causing or allowing the death of a child, and abandoning a child or causing unnecessary suffering or injury. Judge Lynn Tayton KC has remanded both into custody ahead of a plea hearing set for December 16, 2025. A provisional eight-week trial is expected to be scheduled, though no date has yet been set.
The case has prompted questions about how such profound neglect could go unnoticed in a city as densely populated and interconnected as London. Neighbors, it seems, were unaware of Penelope’s existence. With no official records, no school attendance, and no medical appointments, there were few opportunities for authorities to intervene. The couple’s isolation from both their families and the outside world meant that the usual safety nets failed to catch Penelope in time.
Child protection experts have pointed to the case as a stark reminder of the risks posed by extreme social isolation. While the United Kingdom has robust systems in place for monitoring children’s welfare—ranging from health visitors to school attendance officers—these systems rely on some degree of engagement from families. When a child’s birth is never registered and parents shun all contact with officialdom, the risk of undetected harm rises sharply.
The prosecution’s case rests on a combination of forensic evidence and testimony about the family’s lifestyle. The physical findings—emaciation, bruising, ligature marks, and injuries consistent with a sharp object—are supported by the evidence of a restricted diet and a home in poor condition. The couple’s actions after Penelope’s death, particularly their initial consideration of a secret cremation, have been cited as further evidence of a deliberate attempt to conceal both the crime and its circumstances.
As the legal process continues, the tragedy of Penelope Chandrie’s short life has cast a long shadow. The case has sparked renewed debate about the responsibilities of parents, the limits of state intervention, and the ways in which vulnerable children can fall through the cracks. For now, the focus remains on the courtroom, where the facts are being laid bare and justice is being sought for a child whose voice was never heard outside her own home.
With both defendants remanded in custody and a trial looming, the story of Penelope Chandrie stands as a chilling reminder of the consequences when isolation turns into tragedy and a community’s most vulnerable are left unseen and unheard.
