Karpal Kaur Sandhu was 27 years old when she joined the Met Police force exactly 50 years ago. A virtual event was held earlier to commemorate her life. Her daughter Romy Sandhu said, "I'm so proud of my mother, and her legacy. It's wonderful that 50 years on she is an inspiration to generations of new female officers joining the Met."
Tragically, Karpal's life was cut short before she reached her 30s. She was killed by her husband in 1973.
Karpal was born to a Sikh family in Zanzibar, east Africa, in 1943 and came to the UK in 1962, where she got a job as a nurse at Chase Farm Hospital in Enfield. She joined the Met in 1971 becoming the UK's first Asian woman police officer. She served at Hornsey police station before moving to Leyton.
In a statement to the BBC, Ravjeet Gupta, chair of the Metropolitan Police Sikh Association, added: "Karpal was an invaluable ambassador who helped break down barriers with London's communities and will always be remembered for being a trailblazer of her time."
