Man accused of murder, who fled to India, granted approval to return to Australia

A magistrate in India has signed a report approving the extradition of the man suspected of murdering Toyah Cordingley on a Queensland beach four years ago.

Policemen escort Rajwinder Singh, 38, after he was arrested in New Delhi in November last year. He is accused of killing Australian woman Toyah Cordingley, 24, in Queensland in 2018. Source: AAP, AP / Dinesh Joshi

Key Points

• Rajwinder Singh is accused of killing Toyah Cordingley, who was found dead on a Queensland beach in late 2018.
• He has maintained since his arrest in India last December that he wants to return to Australia to face trial.
• An Indian magistrate told a New Delhi court on Tuesday she had written an order approving the extradition.

An Indian magistrate has given the go-ahead for Rajwinder Singh, who is accused of killing Toyah Cordingley four years ago, to be extradited to Australia.

Justice Swati Sharma told a New Delhi court on Tuesday she had written an order approving the extradition, to which Mr Singh, speaking via video link, mumbled "thank you".

Mr Singh, 38 did not appear at the hearing in person because there were no officers available to escort him from Tihar Jail to the court as city police were preoccupied with security arrangements for Republic Day celebrations on Thursday.

Instead, Mr Singh attended the hearing via a video link.

His image on the link was not clear and the angle of the camera largely concealed his face so it was not possible to see his expression.

Toyah Cordingley was found dead on Wangetti Beach, north of Cairns, after taking her dog for a walk in October 2018. Source: Supplied / Queensland Police

Mr Singh has maintained since his arrest in India last December that he wants to return to Australia - where he has a wife and three children - to face trial.

Mr Singh, an Australian citizen, worked as a nurse and lived in Innisfail.

The prime suspect in Ms Cordingley's killing, he was arrested in India after a four-year manhunt that followed his escape from Australia just hours after Ms Cordingley's body was found on Wangetti Beach, in north Queensland.

Australian police want to question Mr Singh over whether he stabbed Ms Cordingley, who was 24, after an argument over her dog barking at him.

Australian police said Ms Cordingley, a pharmacy worker, had suffered "visible, violent injuries".

Her dog was found tied up nearby.

Rajwinder Singh (right) and his father Amar Singh (left) walking to a court hearing in New Delhi in early January. Source: AAP / Penelope MacRae

The court order, along with the file and other documents, will now be sent to officials in India's Ministry of External Affairs.

External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar will have the final say on Mr Singh's extradition.

The Indian government has already provisionally consented to Australia's request for Mr Singh's extradition, which needed to be signed off by the court.

Lawyers involved in the case say it could take 30 to 45 days before Singh is placed on a flight back to Australia.