EastEnders fans were in shock on Wednesday when Kheerat Panesar was sentenced to life in prison after falsely confessing to murdering Ranveer Gulati.
Kheerat confessed to the crime after his mother, Suki, was led to believe that she killed family friend Ranveer by hitting him on the head as he tried to attack her.
However, Ravi discovered that Ranveer was still alive after his attack on Suki and was the one who delivered the fatal blow before covering up his crime to frame Suki.
After her family discovered her apparent crime, her son Kheerat (Jaz Deol) confessed to protecting his mother and has now been sentenced to a devastating life sentence.
Suki (Balvinder Sopal) then found a USB stick with evidence of her actions behind a drawer, which made her realize her abusive husband Nish (Navin Chowdhry) had kept the evidence.
Devastating: EastEnders fans were in shock on Wednesday when Kheerat Panesar was sentenced to life in prison after falsely confessing to murdering Ranveer Gulati
Shock: Kheerat confessed to the crime after his mother Suki was led to believe she had killed the Ranveer family friend by hitting him on the head when he tried to attack her
The caring mother then decided to confess to the crime in order to save her son before Nish managed to get the USB drive back and let the evidence out of her hands.
And viewers were devastated after learning of Kheerat’s punishment for a crime he didn’t commit, urging show bosses to overturn his conviction.
Taking to Twitter, one wrote: “Absolutely angry at Kheerat getting life, he didn’t deserve it, he did nothing wrong. EastEnders really gave him a damn.”
Another predicted: “Something has to happen off screen to ensure Kheerat is eventually released! It can’t be that his life sentence stays!’
A third tweeted: “How did Kheerat get life when he didn’t even do it,” while a fourth added: “So Kheerat got life in prison poor Suki.”
And another asked: “How did Kheerat get life when nothing proves it is him?”
Kheerat’s future remains uncertain after actor Jaz Deol confirmed his exit from the BBC soap opera, with his final scenes showing him being escorted by police.
With no return of Kheerat planned, it remains uncertain if his life sentence will be overturned and if the truth about Ranveer’s death will ever come to light.
Twist: However, Ravi (left) discovered that Ranveer was still alive after his attack on Suki and was the one who delivered the fatal blow before covering up his crime to frame Suki
Anger: Viewers were devastated after learning of Kheerat’s punishment for a crime he did not commit and urged show bosses to overturn his life sentence
Suki was devastated on Wednesday’s episode after her love interest Eve Unwin (Heather Peace) told her about Kheerat’s devastating sentence.
Eve first broke the news to Kheerat’s friend Stacey Slater (Lacey Turner), leaving viewers in complete shock.
Explaining that her boyfriend told her about Kheerat’s conviction in court, Eve dropped the shocking bombshell: “He got life, Stace.”
Sharing her shock, Stacey said: “No, I thought they were going to go easy on him.”
But Eve said: “I know, I’m so sorry, Suki will be devastated, I have to check on her.”
Eve then went to Suki’s house to comfort her secret friend, only to find that Suki was unaware of the horror news.
Eve said, ‘I know I probably shouldn’t be here, but you must be in shock.’
But Suki said, “What are you talking about?”
Eve revealed: “I spoke to my mate who works at the farm and… [he got] Life.’
A devastated Suki began to sob in Eve’s arms, yelling, “No, no, no!”
Eve said, “I’m so sorry, I’m sorry I thought you knew.”
But Suki said: ‘I don’t understand, everything just falls apart.’
Eva asked: ‘Why is there anything else?’
Devastated: Suki was in tears on Wednesday when her secret friend Eve Unwin revealed to her that Kheerat had been sentenced to life in prison
Emotional Scenes: A devastated Suki began sobbing and crying in Eve’s arms: “No, no, no”
Suki then revealed that she found a USB drive behind a drawer in her kitchen that contained evidence of Ranveer’s attack on her.
She said, ‘I found this hidden behind a drawer.’
Suki shared her belief that Ravi kept the footage after saying he had deleted it, but Eve argued that getting rid of the body would also incriminate him.
Eve then told her, “You know who kept that, the man who’s always trying to control you.”
Suki said the footage was erased before the laptop was returned to Nish, but Eve explained that “nothing is ever really erased” and can be recovered.
At that moment, Nish came home and told Suki to hide the USB stick in a coffee pot to hide that she found it from her husband.
She then told Nish that Kheerat had been sentenced to life imprisonment before attempting to cover up the fact that she had found the memory stick.
Explaining the mess and the removed drawer, Suki said, “When I heard the news, I just lost control.”
But Nish insisted, “Everything will be fine,” before ordering Eve to take Suki out for coffee while he cleaned up for her.
While speaking with Eve, Suki said she plans to confess to the crime and give the police the evidence to save her son.
Eve said: “We have to get this USB stick and destroy it because the police can never see it.”
But Suki said, “What if the police see it? Then they would let Kheerat go. I don’t expect you to understand this, but I have to do this for my son.”
Eve asked, “Stop running Suki, please.”
But Suki insisted, “I’ve made up my mind.”
Tense: Elsewhere in the episode, Suki found a memory stick with evidence of her actions hidden in a drawer, making her realize her abusive husband Nish had kept the evidence
Oh no! After sharing her plans to confess to the crime in order to save Kheerat, Suki came home to find that Nish had taken back the flash drive, thwarting her plans
After returning home to get the USB stick for the police, she was confronted by Nish, who asked her, “Are you looking for something?”
He then shockingly presented the USB stick when it was revealed he had found it in Suki’s temporary hiding place and snatched the evidence from her hands.
It remains to be seen if Suki can give the evidence to the police or what Nish will do with the evidence.
EastEnders airs Monday to Thursday at 7.30pm on BBC One and iPlayer.