Boyfriend slam's Briton's 'killer'

The boyfriend of a British woman found stabbed to death on a houseboat hotel in Kashmir has said he hopes that a man arrested on suspicion of her murder "goes to hell".

Sarah Groves, 24, was found in a pool of blood inside her room on the houseboat, on the Dal Lake in Srinagar, on Saturday. A Dutch national named as Richard De Wit, 43, who had also been staying at the hotel, has been arrested on suspicion of her murder.

Indian police say De Wit has confessed to killing Miss Groves. He is said to have been arrested 45 miles away from the murder scene and has reportedly claimed that he was mentally unstable at the time of the stabbing.

Speaking to ITV's Daybreak, Miss Groves' boyfriend, Saeed Ahmed Shoda, said: "I want him to get really big punishment, he made her suffer and I want him to be in hell as well. I do not know why he did this."

Mr Shoda said he spoke to De Wit on two occasions following the murder. He said: "The first time I said 'I do not want to talk to you', the second time I said 'Why did you do this?' and he said 'I did this' - it made me want to kill him."

Describing Miss Groves, he said: "She was very kind, very nice, good person, big heart. The whole world will see her face and see how innocent she was and kind she was."

Describing how her death had affected him, he continued: "I couldn't really walk and stand up, I really did cry a lot. I think now my life is really like shut down. I spoke with her parents and I told them I am very sorry for this, I couldn't really take care of her."

Speaking to a press conference in Guernsey, Miss Groves' father said she had decided to travel to Kashmir after meeting a man called Samir and arranging to stay with his family. Victor Groves said he had been concerned about his daughter, who had originally planned to travel to Sri Lanka, changing her travel plans. He said: "She went north instead. We tried so hard to stop her going."

Mr Groves learned of his daughter's death in a phone call. The BBC reported he was told: "Your daughter is dead. She has been murdered."

Miss Groves had spent more than a month on the houseboat while De Wit booked into a separate room on Thursday, police said, adding that they were investigating whether the two knew each other. She had left her home in Guernsey two months ago to go travelling.