‘Why would somebody do this to her?’: Mother of murdered Surrey woman seeks witnesses

More than a year after her 21-year-old daughter was murdered, a Surrey, B.C., mother has released an impassioned plea for information in the case.

Aisha Harouya was found dead in a parking lot at 124th Street and 111th Avenue Northwest on July 25, 2022. Ashni Ram said she can’t imagine why anybody would want to her harm her little girl.

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“Why would somebody do this to her? I just don’t understand,” Ram said tearfully in a video released by the RCMP on Tuesday.

“I wake up every day thinking this is just a nightmare and I’m going to wake up and she’s going to come through the door and say, ‘Mommy I’m home.'”

Harouya was a fashion and makeup enthusiast whose dream was to pursue a career in beauty and move to Los Angeles. According to Ram, Harouya was a jokester and animal lover whose dog Lexi was “the love of her life.”

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Prior to her death, Ram said she and her daughter were planning a trip to Paris together. In a letter released with the video, she described Harouya as having a “heart of gold” and “unrestrained love” for those around her.

“Aisha, she had a life to live. She was a human being,” Ram said in the video. “I just miss hearing her voice.”

The day she learned of her daughter’s killing was the day her “whole world just came shattering down,” she added.

“I just was in complete shock. You never think that’s going to happen to you, losing your child. She was my only daughter.”

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The RCMP’s Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) has learned that Harouya was last seen alive the day before she died, July 24, in the area of 100th Avenue and Whalley Boulevard.

Investigators are now seeking witnesses and information about where Harouya was between July 23 and 24 — “if she was with anybody, if she got into a car, if you saw her at a coffee shop, at a bar, anything,” Ram said.

“Nothing is going to take away that pain or the void, the emptiness, but just knowing what happened to her — it’ll give our family some closure,” Ram said.

“It will give me some peace. Although it won’t bring her back, it will be a step forward in healing, I think.”

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Ram implored anyone who knows anything about the case to “do the right thing,” not just for her daughter but also “for other young women to end violence against women.”

Anyone with information about Harouya’s case is asked to contact IHIT at 10877-551-4448 or email ihitinfo@rcmp-grc.gc.ca.