New Delhi: India’s High Commission in Ottawa on Thursday urged the Canadian government to ensure the safety of Indian citizens, expressing that it is “shocked and saddened by the senseless murder of an Indian youth in Truro”.
The statement pertains to a case of alleged hate crime, reported in the Canadian city of True, in central Nova Scotia, in which a 23-year-old Sikh man, identified as Prabhjot Singh Katri, was killed.
According to news agency IANS report, Prabhjot Singh, who had come to Canada from Punjab to study in 2017, was killed in an apartment building in Truo in the early hours of September 5.
Read also | Taliban allows 200 Americans, other civilians to leave Afghanistan: report
Truro Police Chief Dave McNeill said officers responded to 494 Robbie St at around 2 a.m. that morning, where they found Singh with life-threatening injuries.
He was then taken to a hospital in Colchester, where he later died.
According to a report by CBC Canada, police are treating the death as homicide. One person was arrested in connection with the murder but was later released.
On the other hand, Singh’s family and friends as well as others from the Indo-Canadian community fear that it was a hate crime as nothing was looted from him, the report said.
The victim’s cousin Maninder Singh revealed that he was doing two jobs to financially support his family in India.
“He was very good. We didn’t imagine that this could happen,” he was quoted as saying by IANS.
Singh had completed his studies and was currently on a work visa. The agency said it was trying to secure permanent residency in Canada.
In its statement, the Indian High Commission urged the Canadian government to “ensure the safety of all Indian citizens, especially Indian students in Canada, from racially motivated crimes”.
“We have taken up this matter with federal and local Canadian authorities, who have assured us of a prompt and transparent investigation into this matter,” it informed.
Liberal MP Sonia Sidhu, who is seeking re-election from Canada’s Brampton South, also condemned the alleged hate crime and insisted she should continue her fight to eradicate it.
“My condolences to the family and loved ones of Prabhjot Singh Katri who was killed in Truro, NS (Nova Scotia). This is an unacceptable act of hatred,” Sidhu wrote in a tweet.
“Hate, online hate, violence and racism have no place in our country and we must continue our fight to eradicate it,” he said.
Meanwhile, a GoFundMe has been set up in an effort to send Singh’s body to India, CTV News reported.
.