Maninder Pal Singh Kohli, a Suspect in the Murder of Hampshire Teenager Hannah Foster, is to Be Extradited to Britain From India

An Indian court has agreed to extradite to Britain a man suspected of killing Hampshire teenager Hannah Foster, more than four years after her murder in her home town of Southampton. Here he will face rape and murder charges.

Maninder Pal Singh Kohli quickly emerged as the main suspect in the murder of the teenager in 2003 but escaped to north east India and avoided capture for 16 months. He was arrested in 2004 and extradition proceedings began. Mr Kohli fought extradition on the grounds that institutional racism in Britain meant he would not receive a fair trial.

Ms Foster's body was found in undergrowth next to a country lane in West End, on Southampton's outskirts half a mile from her home, days after she went missing. A post-mortem found she had been raped and strangled. Hampshire Police launched one of their largest investigations, at one stage drafting in more than 100 detectives.

Mr Kohli also lived in the city and left his wife and two young children to fly from Heathrow to India two days after Hannah's body was found.

Mr Kohli was captured in 2004 at the border with Nepal, apparently attempting to flee India, five days after Ms Foster's parents visited the country and offered a five million rupees (£62,000) reward for his capture. Indian police received over 100 calls in 24 hours and one tip-off led to Mr Kohli's eventual arrest.

A police chief in Darjeeling, a city in the northern West Bengal province, said Kohli had been living under the name Dennis and had married a Nepali woman. In the year after he absconded it is understood he took a job working as a volunteer for the Red Cross in India.

At the time of her death Ms Foster had been offered places at Bristol and Cardiff to study medicine. Today her parents said they were "delighted" at the news of Mr Kohli's extradition.

"We just never thought this day was going to happen at times," Mrs Foster said. "It has been three really long, absolutely roller-coaster years ... For the first time, we haven't got to go to bed thinking about who we should write to tomorrow and who we should get to help us [in the] campaign." It is not known when Mr Kohli will be brought back to the UK. The Times of India reported that he may appeal against the decision in the country's high court.