Bound with gaffer tape and cable ties, Jasmeen Kaur endured a terrifying death, buried alive after being abducted by the man she rejected.
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The 21-year-old inhaled and swallowed dirt as she struggled to breathe, face-up in a shallow grave in South Australia's mid-north.
Now her former boyfriend has been jailed for almost 23 years after pleading guilty to her horrific murder.
Tarikjot Singh had planned the nursing student's killing in some detail, buying tape, cable ties, gloves and a shovel before borrowing a friend's car and swapping out his phone's sim card.
In March 2021, he abducted her from her workplace, restrained her and drove north to Moralana Creek, about 40 kilometres from Hawker.
There he dug her grave, a short distance from the edge of the road.
Sentencing the 23-year-old on Tuesday, Supreme Court Justice Adam Kimber described the killing as horrific and callous in the extreme.
He said Singh had acted out of a desire to punish Ms Kaur for rejecting him.
"I am unable to find words to adequately describe how Ms Kaur must have felt when you placed her in the grave and buried her," he said.
"The terror she felt when she was abducted, restrained and kept in the car during the long drive to Moralana Creek is difficult enough to estimate.
"I cannot describe the terror Ms Kaur must have been experiencing when she realised you were burying her alive."
Justice Kimber said Ms Kaur's relationship with Singh had come to an end about three months before her death.
But Singh had refused to accept it was over and continued to contact her and her family.
In February that year, he was issued with a police caution for stalking.
The judge said he was satisfied that the murder was the result of Singh wanting to punish Ms Kaur for ending their relationship and for going to police.
"Your conduct was planned and carefully carried out. There was ample time to change course," Justice Kimber said.
"You must have placed Ms Kaur in a state of terror. The way in which you chose to kill Ms Kaur was particularly callous."
In a statement, the dead woman's mother Rashpal Kaur said justice had prevailed and her family welcomed the sentence.
But she said she did not feel happy.
"I wish that I was not giving this statement and that Jasmeen was still here by my side," she said.
"I talk to her every day, we say goodnight to our children, don't we? So, I always say goodnight to my daughter."
Singh had been due to stand trial this year but pleaded guilty at his arraignment in February.
He was jailed for life with a non-parole period of 22 years and 10 months.
As an Indian citizen, Singh is likely to be deported once released.
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