She stated that she had suffered from domestic abuse for ten years, including physical violence, food deprivation, and marital rape.
Later that night, while her husband lay sleeping, Kiranjit fetched some petrol and caustic soda mixture from the garage and mixed it to create napalm.
[7] At the trial, the prosecution argued that although on the night of the event she had been threatened with a hot poker, the fact that she waited until her husband had gone to sleep was evidence that she had time to "cool off".
In addition, it was brought to light that she was suffering from severe depression when she set fire to her husband, which her new counsel argued had then altered her decision making abilities.
[4] The media portrayed Kiranjit Ahluwalia as a passive and vulnerable South Asian woman, which helped generate significant public support for her case.
After the mistrial was declared, a re-trial was ordered and on September 25, 1992 Kiranjit was found guilty of manslaughter due to diminished responsibility and sentenced to three years and four months (the time she had already served).
[11] Kiranjit was honoured in 2001 at the first Asian Women Awards in recognition of her "strength, personal achievements, determination and commitment" in helping to bring to light the subject of domestic violence.
[12] Gita Sahgal made a film called Unprovoked for the British television investigative documentary programme Dispatches on the subject of Kiranjit's experience.