Turban ripped, Sikh student dragged by hair in Canada: Report
Darpan News Desk IANS, 20 Mar, 2023 11:03 AM
Toronto, March 20 (IANS) A Sikh student from India was attacked by a group of unknown men who ripped off his turban and dragged him across the sidewalk by his hair in BC. according to a media report.
Gagandeep Singh, 21, was swarmed and beaten near Highway 97 and McCurdy Road in Kelowna after he got off a transit bus on March 17, CTV News reported.
Gagandeep was heading home after grocery shopping when he encountered a group of young boys, between 12 and 15 years-old on the bus.
"They were harassing him and they threw a wig at him. He told them not to bother him or he'd call the police, and they continued to harass him," Kelowna City Councillor Mohini Singh told CTV News.
"They got off after him, waited for the bus to leave and then they swarmed him, they beat him in his face, in his ribs, arms, and legs and then proceeded to grab his turban, pull his hair and drag him," Singh said.
She further said that the group took the turban with them when they left Gagandeep in a pile of "dirty snow" on the side of the road.
Gagandeep then called a friend who came to the scene and dialled 911. He was treated for a wide range of injuries on his chest, mouth, arms and legs at Kelowna General Hospital, according to the report.
Singh, who visited Gagandeep at his home, said she was "horrified" after she saw him.
"He could only speak in soft tones and he couldn't open his mouth," she told CTV News, adding that the young man's eyes were swollen shut and he was in pain.
Calling the incident "intolerable" and "absolutely disgusting", Singh said it should be treated as a "racist attack".
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) of Kelowna said in a statement that they are investigating the incident in which someone was "hit from behind and assaulted" by a group of people.
"The Kelowna RCMP take this very seriously and are concerned that this type of crime has happened in our city," spokesperson Constable Mike Della-Paolera said in a statement.
"This assault is the top priority for our investigators."
Meanwhile, shaken and scared, international students and members of the Sikh community gathered on Sunday morning near a Kelowna bus stop to seek justice for Gagandeep.
A GoFundMe page has been set up by Gagandeep's friends to cover his medical expenses, rent, and tuition fees.
"Kelowna is a welcoming and diverse community, filled with residents who are full of love and compassion. Together we can show that there's no place for hate and violence in our community," the fundraising page said.
The board says sales for the month totalled 1,022, a 55 per cent drop from the prior January. The number of homes that changed hands last month was also 42.9 per cent below the 10-year January sales average.
In his decision, Justice Warren Milman outlines Perignon's difficulties with extreme pain from two separate motor vehicle accidents, leading to an opioid prescription described in the judgment as "dangerously high" and above a level that would be "fatal for someone naive to opioids."
According to folklore, if a groundhog sees its shadow on Groundhog Day, winter will drag on. However, if it doesn't spot its shadow, spring-like weather will soon arrive. Folklorists say the Groundhog Day ritual may have something to do with Feb. 2 landing midway between winter solstice and spring equinox, but no one knows for sure.
The civil liberties association statement says although the independent review in 2019 found "reasonable grounds" to believe two officers may have committed offences related to use of force, and three others may have obstructed justice, the Crown was not handed a final report until 2020, and charge approval took nearly three more years.
Sgt. Jon Eusebio Cruz, and constables Arthur Dalman and Clarence MacDonald are accused of attempting to obstruct justice. RCMP said at the time of the arrest that 35-year-old Arthur Dale Culver appeared to have trouble breathing before he died in while in police custody.
Adrian Dix says that number reflects doctors who signed up in advance or within hours of its launch, and he expects it to grow "dramatically." He says the model, developed by the province and Doctors of BC, aims to attract doctors to family practice and keep them there by addressing challenges that arise in the existing fee-for-service system.
