 Police are working to answer many questions about Harsimrat Kahlon (inset), who was found dead by her common-law husband in this Taradale home last Monday. Three dead infants were also found in the basement suite in which Kahlon lived. (Jim Wells/Sun Media)
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CALGARY - By all appearances, Harsimrat Kahlon led a normal life.
She went to work, paid the rent on time and resided in a well-kept home she shared with a common-law husband.
But the 27-year-old kept many secrets police are still trying to uncover after Kahlon was found dead in her northeast basement suite last week.
The bodies of three newborns were later found hidden there, wrapped in plastic bags.
One baby, badly decomposed, may have been born as far back as three to four years ago in a Calgary hospital -- yet another disturbing detail to emerge from the mysterious case.
The babies appeared full-term, at least one with an umbilical cord still attached.
Whether they had names, how long they might have lived and how they died is still a mystery.
Police say they are now trying to determine if all or indeed any of the babies hidden in the rented Taradale basement suite were Kahlon's.
And as they try to determine that, they are trying to also identify the father.
Kahlon's common-law husband, Harnek Mahal, found the first newborn on Monday, a day after he came home to find Kahlon dead in a bedroom of the suite they shared for two to three years.
He reportedly has not returned to the home in recent days.
Neighbours offer mixed reports on whether Kahlon, born in Chandigarh, India, was ever a mother -- never mind given birth three times.
Some say the woman, who was not slight, was pregnant as recently as seven months ago. Others insist she never was.
Police said Kahlon's death is not suspicious, but have not said whether it was natural or suicide.
However, they have said foul play is suspected in the deaths of the infants.
It could take months to explain what ended the lives of three babies, said to be two girls and a boy.
And while the search for answers as to what happened behind closed doors continues, Kahlon appeared to live an ordinary life, on the surface at least.
Landlord Major Brar, who lives upstairs in the house, said the couple moved in after answering an ad he posted in a local East Indian grocery store.
Almost every month, like clockwork, Kahlon would go to the front of the house to pay the rent.
"She paid mostly in cash," he said.
Brar said they were good and quiet tenants, rarely having guests stop by and keeping the suite tidy.
But often when Kahlon had visitors she preferred if Mahal, said to be co-operating with police, stayed away from the home, sources said.
Brar said the couple shared an older car, which Kahlon would often drive, presumably to and from her job at a law firm, while Mahal worked as a truck driver.
NADIA.MOHARIB@SUNMEDIA.CA
