All three men charged with a vicious attack on a 29-year-old man with autism in the bus terminal of Mississauga’s Square One shopping centre in March 2018 have now been sentenced.
On Monday, Parmvir Singh Chahil and Jaspaul Uppal, both of British Columbia, were each sentenced to nine months in jail, a year of probation, a 10-year weapons prohibition and were ordered to submit their DNA to the DNA databank after pleading guilty to aggravated assault on Feb. 11, 2020.
A third co-accused, Ronjot Singh Dhami, pleaded guilty to the same charge on Nov. 28, 2018, and was sentenced on the same day to 12 months behind bars, two years of probation, a 10-year weapons ban and a DNA order. He was released from jail on the day of his sentence, given credit for time served in pre-trial custody.
The father of the victim told Global News in an exclusive interview that the sentencing was emotional and is glad the whole thing, which he calls “traumatic,” is finally over for his family, especially for his son.
“(We are) as satisfied as we can be. I mean, I would have liked to have seen more,” he said.
“My family would have liked to have seen more. My son would have desperately like to have seen more, but times being what they are this is where we’re at and we have to settle for what it is.”
The father called the beating captured on surveillance video and viewed approximately 685,000 times on the Peel Regional Police YouTube channel “a cowardly act.”
“These young men, for lack of a better term, attacked an innocent person for no good reason,” he said.
“It doesn’t matter if the person has autism. They just randomly went up and assaulted somebody for no good reason.”
The father can’t be identified because that would identify his son, whose identity is protected by a court-ordered publication ban.
It was March 13, 2018, at around 10:45 p.m. when police were called to the base of the steps of the bus terminal for an assault.
Surveillance video released by investigators showed three men coming down the steps, surrounding the victim before punching and kicking him, and then walking away.
The three men were eventually all identified after an appeal was made for help from the public. The three were arrested after a Canada-wide warrant was issued for their arrests. The father said his son’s nose was “smashed up pretty good,” adding his son also had to have stitches and has also suffered emotional scars.
“It’s really hard. He’s adjusting, he’s trying to get back into the normal swing of things, but it’s challenging,” he explained.
He said on the day of the attack, his son was taking off his roller skates after going for a skate in the area near the bus terminal where he often went. Since the attack, his son has continued working and won’t let this attack define who he is.
“He’s mentioned to us he has to be cautious where he goes. He has to look over his shoulder,” said the father.
But his message to others is that life goes on.
“Don’t be scared. Rotten stuff is going to happen,” he said.
“Everywhere you go, you try to do you best, live your life and if crappy things like this happen, stand strong, don’t cower away, don’t cover up and just continue to live your life. That’s the best revenge of all of this.”
After credit served for pre-trial custody, Chahil has eight months and 21 days left to serve on his sentence. Uppal has seven months and 19 days remaining.