India has registered its protest and sought action after an Indian Sikh student was assaulted in Canada’s British Columbia province on Monday. In a social media post, the Consulate General of India in Vancouver has condemned the incident and urged the Canadian authorities to take a speedy action against the “perpetrators”.
“@cgivancouver strongly condemns assault on an Indian national in Kelowna and requests Canadian authorities to investigate the incident and take prompt action against the perpetrators. @HCI_Ottawa @MEAIndia,” the post on X, formerly Twitter, read.
@cgivancouver strongly condemns assault on an Indian national in Kelowna and requests Canadian authorities to investigate the incident and take prompt action against the perpetrators. @HCI_Ottawa @MEAIndia
— India in Vancouver (@cgivancouver) September 15, 2023
Notably, a 17-year-old Sikh high school student was assaulted at a bus stop in Canada’s British Columbia in what appeared to be a case of hate crime. A CTV News report stated that the incident occurred in Kelowna at the intersection of Rutland Road South and Robson Road East where the victim was allegedly “kicked, punched and pepper-prayed,” reported news agency PTI.
A Royal Canadian Mounted Police official said, “Officers determined a 17-year-old Sikh student was either beer or pepper sprayed by another teenage male after exiting a public transit bus on his way home.” He added that there was an altercation that took place on the bus which resulted in both the victim and the accused getting kicked out of the vehicle.
Reacting to the incident, the World Sikh Organisation (WSO) of Canada has alleged that the victim was also assaulted while he was in the vehicle.
“Two individuals approached the student and first barred his entry onto the bus and then, once allowing him to board, began to threaten him with a lighter and photograph and record him from a close distance with their phones,” the CTV News quoted the organisation as saying.
WSO vice-president for British Columbia, Guntaas Kaur said, “Monday’s attack on a Sikh high school student in Kelowna is shocking and unacceptable.”
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