Toronto, Oct 13 - The murder of a young Sikh woman and three kids in a basement suite in Calgary last week remains a mystery.

Twenty-seven-year-old Harsimrat Kahlon was found dead by her boyfriend Harnek Mahal. Mahal, who was away, tried calling her. When she didn't respond, he reported the matter to police last Thursday.

When police came to the suite, they found not only the body of Kahlon but also those of three dead newborns concealed in suitcases.

It is known whether the newborns belonged to Kahlon.

All that the relatives of the woman, who was estranged from her family and staying with her boyfriend since 2005, say is that she was going to India to marry next month. Kahlon was reportedly pregnant at the time of her murder.

The family didn't know about her pregnancy, according to the woman's close friends.

Her brother Harpreet Kahlon, who last saw her in 2005, said, "She lived her own life. We literally had no contact with her.

"She did her own thing. I don't know who she hung out with, I don't know who her friends are.''

A local newspaper quoted one of her friends from India as saying: "She called me a few months back and was very happy. She strictly said to me that she is coming to India in November, will get married there and I will have to attend her wedding.

Navi Sandhu, who chatted online with Kahlon daily from India, said: "I was her Net friend but we were so close to each other. Simmi (Kahlon's nickname) was very sober, down to earth, God-fearing girl... It is just unbelievable.''

Sandhu said: "Simmi was not at all like such girl that she gets pregnant before marriage.''

Kahlon, who worked at a local law firm, had moved out of her family home four years ago. She had not seen her family since then.

Relatives of the young woman are coming from India and elsewhere for her funeral.

After Vancouver and Toronto, Calgary has the third largest concentration of the Punjabi community in Canada. (IANS)