Wymondham murder: Wife jailed for killing husband at family home

Jeyamalar Kumarathas stabbed her husband in front of their two children

A woman who murdered her husband during a drunken row has been jailed.

Jeyamalar Kumarathas, 55, stabbed Kumarathas Rajasingam twice, including in front of their two "vulnerable children" at the family home in Norfolk in March last year.

The couple's adult daughter had to grab the knife from her mother who "stood over Mr Rajasingam, berating him" as he lay dying on the floor.

Kumarathas was jailed for a minimum of 16 years at Norwich Crown Court.

The couple's relationship had been plagued by a "history of abuse" and Kumarathas had stabbed Mr Rajasingam twice before - once in 2010 and again in 2018 - the court heard.

Kumarathas, of Burdock Close, Wymondham, previously admitted manslaughter but was found guilty of murder following an eight-day trial.

Kumarathas Rajasingam was stabbed to death with a kitchen knife

She had a history of alcoholism and the court heard how her daughter had begged her mother to stop drinking for years before the fatal attack.

"Mum had so many opportunities and chances to change but now it's too late, she's taken my dad's life away," she said in a victim impact statement read out in court.

Kumarathas became so volatile when drunk that the rest of the family fitted locks to their doors to prevent her "screaming, ranting and raving in the middle of the night", Judge Stephen Holt said.

Jonathan Goodman, mitigating, said his client had struggled with depression and a "harmful use of alcohol" since the death of a friend in 2008.

Kumarathas Rajasingam was stabbed at home in Wymondham, Norfolk

Sentencing, Judge Holt said: "You have destroyed your daughter and son's lives. What you did to their father will remain with them all their lives."

He said the only mitigating feature was Kumarathas being "in a vulnerable position" due to her leading an "isolated life mainly down to drinking".