'We need justice': Wife of Sikh man slain in Canada New Year day shooting
Darpan News Desk IANS, 17 Jan, 2023 10:46 AM
Toronto, Jan 17 (IANS) The wife of a 51-year-old Sikh man, who was shot dead when intruders broke into his Mill Woods house in Canada on New Year, has said that she needs swift justice for her husband.
Barinder Singh, who hails from Punjab and had moved to Edmonton in 2019 along with family, was asleep when intruders broke into his house at Mill Woods Road and started firing, the Global News reported.
Police responded to a disturbance around 2.45 a.m., and arrived at the complex in the Pollard Meadows neighbourhood to find an injured 51-year-old man lying in a pool of blood.
"It's all like a nightmare for us," a shattered Jasjeet Kaur, wife of Singh, told Global News.
Singh was taken to a hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. The autopsy revealed that he died from gunshot wounds and the medical examiner said that the manner of death was a homicide.
"We need justice. I just want to know who did this. I need to know. Whya Why my family was the target? And it was not just him -- it was the whole family," Jasjeet Kaur told the Canadian news channel. "I want the culprits. I want to know the reason why it happened."
A GoFundMe page set up for Singh described him as an "honest, family man who worked hard to provide for his family".
"(He was) a devoted son, a good brother and a caring father -- he kept us going through good times and tough times. Through his work, he supported my grandparents in Punjab, while providing for us in Delhi, India," the page quoted his two daughters as saying.
Police said it is still working to establish a motive for this violent crime. So far, the homicide unit has found a burnt-out white Dodge Ram truck in the nearby Laurel neighbourhood, which they think is connected to the crime.
They are looking for home security and dashcam footage in the area where the burned-out truck was located.
In November, the federal Liberal government announced a new immigration plan that would see Canada welcome 500,000 immigrants per year by 2025. A record-breaking 431,645 people became permanent residents in 2022.
Treasury Board President Mona Fortier announced last month that all departments must bring workers back to the office at least two to three times a week by the end of March. In an interview Thursday, she did not specify what the consequences may be for anyone who refuses to return.
Coquitlam RCMP say all residents were able to get out of the house safely, and there were no physical injuries. The Mounties say it is believed the fire was intentionally set by someone who knew the occupants.
The River Forecast Centre says rivers and streams on Vancouver's North Shore mountains and in areas around Squamish, the Sunshine Coast and much of central, east and southern Vancouver Island could exceed levels seen only every five years.
The pedestrian, a 7-year-old child, was crossing the street with her family when she was struck by a vehicle travelling westbound on Marine Drive. The child was rushed to the hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.
The jawbone fragment, found last October, was identified by the province's coroner's serviceto be that of a childbetween the ages of four and six from about 125 years ago. It was not locatedanywhere near an area that was known to be a graveyard.
