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Canadian-Sikh cop who died by suicide was under probe for texts to minor

Darpan News Desk IANS, 20 Jul, 2023 11:37 AM

A 26-year-old off-duty Canadian-Sikh police officer, who fatally shot himself earlier this year, was facing investigation for sending inappropriate texts to a 15-year-old girl, recently unsealed court documents found.

Dilbag 'Dylan' Hothi, an officer with the Surrey Police Service, was suspended in August 2022 amid a breach of trust investigation before he took his life in February.

According to newly unsealed court documents, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) were probing Hothi for sending inappropriate texts to a teenager, CBC News reported.

The girl told investigators she met Hothi when he responded to a call to help her friend a few days earlier, and they exchanged numbers so she could keep him updated about her friend's whereabouts, documents revealed.

She said Hothi asked her to meet on two separate occasions and at one point asked her whether she gets "wild" after drinking alcohol.

Hothi also told the girl that he gets "wild and horny" when he drinks, the document said, citing the teenager's statement to the RCMP.

The girl went to Surrey RCMP on August 14, 2022, and showed them the texts that night, the documents said, following which Hothi was arrested and his phones were seized on August 16.

An analyst who examined screenshots in September said the officer and the teenager exchanged 40 texts between August 11 and 12, the CBC News reported.

On August 17, he was released on a promise to appear in court in November, along with an order not to contact the teen, and six months later, he committed suicide.

The Surrey Police Service declined to comment on the unsealed documents.

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