She wants to sacrifice her own freedom for her son.
This article contains discussions surrounding sexual assault and domestic abuse, including coercive control, that some readers may find upsetting.
Suki Panesar (Balvinder Sopal) was determined to save son Kheerat (Jaz Deol) from a lifetime behind bars in tonight’s EastEnders (Wednesday 19th April).
Last year, Suki believed she had killed Ranveer Gulati (Anil Goutam) in self-defence after he tried to sexually assault her. But when his adoptive son Ravi (Aaron Thiara) sent her away so he could dispose of the body, he realised Ranveer wasn’t actually dead and finished the job himself.
With Suki having set up a recording to trap Ranveer, Ravi later removed this part of the footage, and when Suki’s actions were exposed to the Panesars, Kheerat took the blame for his mum by handing himself in to the police.
After being dumped by her secret lover Eve Unwin (Heather Peace), who wanted to bring Suki’s controlling husband Nish (Navin Chowdhry) to justice, Suki focused her efforts on Kheerat’s court hearing tonight. But in a phone call, she was upset when Nish resisted her support for his sentencing.
Nish urged Suki to let Kheerat cope alone, reminding her that she and their children hadn’t been to visit him in prison and in the end, she did him a favour in helping him to survive. Left alone in the house, Suki frantically searched the kitchen and found the USB stick which could exonerate Kheerat, which was taped to the back of a drawer.
Meanwhile, although Eve had claimed she couldn’t watch Nish ruin Suki when the latter put a stop to her implicating other son Vinny (Shiv Jalota) in her plot, Eve still had the other woman in her thoughts. She took a call from a friend working at the courts, who informed her that Kheerat had just been sentenced to life.
Eve rushed over to see Suki, who hadn’t yet heard the news and was devastated as she crumbled in Eve’s arms. Suki then showed Eve what she had found, wondering if Ravi was responsible. But Eve insisted that it must have been Nish who had harboured the proof. At that moment, Nish returned home to find the kitchen turned upside down, with Suki explaining she had lost control over Kheerat’s fate.
Nish sent Suki to the café with Eve, where Eve told Suki to destroy the USB stick and urged her to stop hiding her true self. But Suki decided to hand the evidence in to the police instead, adamant that she was going to get Kheerat out of jail. Eve’s protests were dismissed as Suki rushed away, but can she go through with her plan as she went on to find Nish holding the evidence?
If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can visit Refuge for more information and contact 0808 2000 247 for support. Help can also be found at The Hideout.
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