Cordingley extradition nears milestone

Marty Silk | January 9, 2023

A man’s willingness to return to Australia to face trial over the murder of Queensland woman Toyah Cordingley is an encouraging milestone for her family and friends, the state’s police minister says.

Rajwinder Singh, 38, told a Delhi court on Saturday that he wanted to formally waive his right to challenge extradition over the 24-year-old’s killing in 2018.

Queensland Police Minister Mark Ryan has welcomed the development, which will avoid a legal battle over Singh’s extradition that could have dragged on for years in India’s clogged court system.

“The process around delivering justice for Toyah is reaching a particular milestone, and I’m looking forward to seeing those proper processes continue,” he told reporters on Monday.

“Obviously we’ve got to be careful about what we say publicly, but we’re very hopeful that the processes and the work done today will deliver the outcome that the community wants to see.”

Singh, an Australian citizen of Indian origin, told AAP as he was being escorted to the court by police that he had a “message for Australians”.

“I want to go back. It is the (Indian) judicial system that has been holding things up,” said Singh, who was accompanied by his father and mother at the court hearing.

“I did not kill the woman,” he said, adding he wanted to “reveal all the details” to an Australian court.

Singh was arrested in December by Delhi police ending a four-year hunt for the 38-year-old, which began when the 38-year-old boarded a flight to India hours after Queensland police discovered Ms Cordingley’s body in sand dunes at Wangetti Beach, north of Cairns.

He had worked as a nurse and lived in Innisfail with his wife and three children, but has been in India since 2018.

Singh was arrested a few weeks after the Queensland government posted a record $1 million reward last November for information leading to his capture.

The Delhi magistrate now will consider Singh’s request to be returned to Australia and give a decision on Tuesday.

The Indian government has already provisionally consented to Singh’s extradition, but the request must be signed off by the court.