Bhim Kohli: Children recall finding father after attack

A MURDER trial was told that the daughter of an elderly man found him screaming in pain on the ground after he was attacked in a park.

The court heard that Bhim Kohli, 80, passed away on the day following his assault, which occurred as he walked his dog near his Leicestershire home in Franklin Park, Braunstone Town on September 1 last year.

Two minors—a boy aged 15 and a girl aged 13—whose identities are protected by law due to their youth, face charges at Leicester Crown Court in connection with his death.

His daughter Susan Kohli discovered his father lying on his back in agony."He screamed 'my neck, my neck, my neck'," she told Leicester Crown Court. "This was not his normal tone. He was in agony. I have never heard him cry out in pain like that before."

When Susan asked what happened, her father reportedly said: "I have been punched in the face and they have kicked me." He told her "it was the lads, the same lads" and mentioned being racially abused.

She added: "I found out the lad responsible was wearing a balaclava. I continued to reassure my father, stroking him on the arm."

In a later statement to police, she said her father had told him that he had been racially abused.

Prosecutors told the court the male defendant, wearing a balaclava, racially abused Kohli before an "intense attack" that included kicking, punching, and slapping the elderly man with a slider shoe while he was on his knees.

The girl allegedly encouraged the violence and filmed it on her phone while laughing. Mobile phone evidence revealed messages sent by the boy afterward, including one stating: "I didn't mean to batter him. It was one hit and then my anger turned in. I regret it, man, I do."

The boy claimed Kohli had "pulled a knife on a girl" - an allegation the prosecution described as false. Susan Kohli testified her father never carried a knife, saying "he never felt the need."

She said her father had never habitually carried a knife - either to work in his allotment or for his protection.

She added: "He never felt the need to carry a knife - even after the anti-social behaviour."

Susan said Bramble Way had always been "quiet and peaceful", and described it as "a great place to live".

His son Virender Kohli, said he arrived at Franklin Park to find paramedics helping his father.

"My dad said he had been hit and indicated by pointing to his left side in the area of his ribs and left side of his neck. I was in shock seeing him lying on the floor," he was quoted as saying.

He described his father as "fit as a fiddle" and that he regularly tended to three allotments.

Both defendants deny the charges. The trial in the case continues.