The 23-year-old victim, who came on a study visa from a Moga village in 2017, died after being stabbed in the neck as police question one suspect
By a reporter
HALIFAX: A fundraiser for 23-year-old Indian student Parbhjot Singh Katri, who was stabbed to death early Sunday morning in Truro town near Halifax in Nova Scotia, has raised over $97,000.
The victim’s body is being sent back to his village Bukkanwala in Moga district of Punjab.
Prabhjot came to Canada on a student visa in 2017. He was about to apply for his PR as he worked two jobs.
A candle light vigil has been planned on September 10 to remember the innocent young man.
The victim was returning to his apartment – which he shared with his sister and her husband – at about 2 am on Sunday morning when he was stabbed. He died within half an hour of stabbing.
Narrating the ghastly incident of the Sunday morning, Simardeep Kaur Hundal, president of Maritime Sikh Society, said, “It was about 2 a.m. when Prabhjot was reurning home after work. Before reaching his own apartment, Prabhjot decided to go to his friends who lived just a few units away and eat with them. They are all young boys who work late shifts. After eating with his friends when Prabhjot came down the stairs, he was stabbed in the neck by two men just as he stepped down. After being struck, he rushed upstairs to tell his friends that he has been stabbed in the neck. One of Prabhjot’s friends rushed downstairs to catch the two suspects who sped away in their vehicle. He told police the description of the suspects and the vehicle.”
Prabhjot died soon as probably one of his neck arteries got cut during the stabbing.
“I visited the apartment. It was full of blood. It was probably a targeted killing as the other boys said that they had seen one of the suspects,” Hundal said.
She said, “I was there when the city mayor and the police chief visited the victim family and they ensured us that they have interrogated one of the suspects and collected all forensic evidence from him.”
Prabhjot was the son of an army man. He was born in 1999 and lost his father when he was just six months old. His mother raised him and his two elder sisters alone.
Hundal said, “My heart breaks for the mother who raised three children while grieving for her husband and was looking forward to seeing his son flourishing, after all the hard work and struggles. Why would someone slit the throat of another human? There are a lot of unanswered questions. Please support the family.”
Truro is about an hour’s drive from Halifax. “There are lots of Indian students there because Truro has a university. There are also four-five Indian families who have been living there for a long time.”
People are donating to the fundraiser for the victim, paying their emotional respects to the young man.
“From one mother to another, my heart breaks for you. Stay strong. He clearly loved you so much,” said one donor.
Another donor from Truro wrote, “I am so sorry that this has happened. I see so many international students in our town who all work very hard, sometimes with two or three jobs just to make ends meet and send money home to their families. Every single person I meet from India is kind, friendly and so helpful. It makes me feel ashamed to think this was a hate crime. Canada could not thrive as a country without immigration. We need to replace ignorance with acceptance. Immigrants are not stealing jobs from Canadians, they are doing jobs that nobody else will do. We need every single one of them or our economy would suffer dearly.”
Yet another donor said, “I am grieved beyond measure, that someone has robbed the life of another human being in my country. This is not what Canadians have fought for over the many wars.”
One more donor wrote, “I cannot stop crying thinking about this man. Our family has been blessed with newfound friendships with a community of international students. This man was a son, brother, friend, and kind human being here to build a bright future. What a sad sad day for the people of Nova Scotia…”
A donor who once worked with the victim at Mcdonald’s said, “I worked with him at McDonald’s, he was very nice and I felt bad, really bad.”
Laytons Taxi, where Prabhjot worked, donated $1,500 to the fundraiser.
Plans are being made to fly the body to Moga so that Prabhjot’s mother can have one last look at her son’s face, said Hundal emotionally.
READ: Indian student murdered in Nova Scotia
