Calls to remove video of Canadian Sikh woman's killing gather steam
Darpan News Desk IANS, 31 May, 2023 01:34 PM
New Delhi, May 31 (IANS) Calls to remove a video circulating online of a Canadian Sikh woman whose gruesome killing was caught on camera, have been picking up steam with netizens urging social media giants to remove the graphic content.
Davinder Kaur, 43, was stabbed to death by her estranged husband Nav Nishan Singh in Sparrow Park, Brampton, on May 19.
Emergency crews found the mother of four with "obvious signs of trauma", who died on the spot despite attempts by paramedics to save her life.
Singh, who was arrested a short distance from the crime scene, has been charged with first-degree murder.
"Truly disturbing", professor and human rights activist Madhu Purnima Kishwar tweeted after the video went viral. Singh hurled profanities at Kaur and reportedly took video of her dying moments. The video shows her bleeding profusely in a creek after being attacked.
"Her (Kaur's) final moments of pure suffering have been shared around the world on social media for all to see and cringe in horror to," Ashis Basu, a Twitter user, wrote
"I am outraged that there is a video circulating on Twitter of Davinder Kaur in her dying moments in Brampton Park. Under no circumstances should this video be put out or watched or retweeted," Amardeep Kaur, associated with Toronto University, said on Twitter.
Amardeep said she repeatedly raised a concern with Twitter but the social media giant refused to take down the videos or even add sensitive content warning.
"I tried again in the "harassed/ intimidated with violence" category -- on note that the video celebrates and praises violent acts... Twitter still chose not to remove or even put a sensitive warning on them. It is such a horrific violation to the women that we can't get these brutal videos down," an anguished Amardeep said.
Twitter's policy on deceased individuals prohibits sharing excessively gruesome images or videos, or sharing media depicting a deceased individual for sadistic purposes.
It further says that sharing images or videos of a deceased individual can "cause serious distress to the deceased's family and can also negatively impact the well-being of others who view this content".
"It is a huge disservice to them and their families and it also causes such a huge desensitisation toward violence against women," Ananya, an Illustrator for Teen Vogue, said.
Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown told Global News that he is aware of the "harrowing video".
"It's very disappointing that a video as heinous as that would be available for viewing. I know the police took this very seriously -- they made their best efforts to have the video removed," he said.
While the news outlet reached out to both Twitter and Facebook, there was no response.
Kaur, according to her family, had been contemplating divorce from Singh who left her six months ago.
The two had been married for more than 20 years and had four children together with three living in Brampton and one in India.
On Saturday, at 10:28 p.m., police received a report of a stabbing at Surrey Memorial Hospital. The initial report indicated that two people had sustained injuries and the suspect was being detained by hospital security.
The province's Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says 33-year-old Kimberley Buitenweg and 44-year-old Joseph McWilliam were arrested on Friday and charged with second-degree murder in the death of Surinderjit “Jack” Singh.
The warning from Environment Canada says a plume of hot air is to remain in place over the area through Thursday, bringing daytime highs to near 30 C and overnight lows near 15 C. Much of the rest of the province's coastal and interior regions remain under special weather statements related to persistent heat that saw temperatures soar above 30 C in many communities on the weekend
The man appears to be checking something in the back seat of the black SUV, before turning toward one of two approaching officers. The officer appears to fire a single shot, and the man falls to the ground and begins to turn over before the video ends.
The province says it's accelerating the expansion of post-secondary programs in early childhood education. The Ministry of Education and Child Care says 16-million-dollars will create 400 new spaces in each of the next three years.
Environment Canada is forecasting daytime temperatures 10 to 15 degrees above normal in parts of both provinces over the next several days, with heat peaking Sunday through Tuesday in the high 20s to low 30s.
