The town of Truro says its local police force “continues to investigate the tragic and senseless death of Prabhjot Singh Katri,” whose death has been ruled a homicide.
The 23-year-old was killed in the early hours of Sept. 5 at an apartment building in Truro.
He is remembered by friends and family for his kind heart and work ethic. He had been working multiple jobs to support his mother in his home country of India.
In a Facebook post Wednesday, the town said the Truro Police Service “are working diligently on this case and have made substantial progress.”
“The Truro Police Service is in regular communication with Prabhjot’s family, friends and the Maritime Sikh Society,” the post said.
“This senseless act has deeply shaken our community. We wish to extend our deepest sympathies to the Canadian Sikh Community who is also mourning this loss.”
The post said they cannot speculate on motive or comment on the circumstances of the tragedy because it’s an ongoing investigation.
“Investigators continue to consider all factors in this case, including to determine whether this crime was motivated by hate,” it said.
Police have previously arrested a person of interest who was later released without charges. That person remained a person of interest following the arrest, police said last week.
‘Incredibly concerning’
Balpreet Singh, legal counsel and spokesperson for the World Sikh Organization of Canada, described the tragedy as a “shocking incident” which has “put a lot of people into a state of fear and into a state of worry.”
“Until the people responsible are found, I think the situation is going to be incredibly concerning,” he said.
He said they’re waiting for more evidence to come to light, but there is “a lot of fear” that the crime was motivated by hate. Accounts from friends and family indicate that Prabhjot Singh Katri didn’t have any enemies and wasn’t robbed the night he was killed.
Singh said there have been “a lot of incidents” reported to the organization about international Sikh students in Nova Scotia facing discrimination and intolerance “because of their articles of faith and their appearance.”
This discrimination is especially prevalent in smaller and rural communities, he said, which are less diverse than urban centres.
“They’re going to communities that have not seen Sikhs before … so the problems that they are facing now are problems that the Sikh community faced in major centres, maybe 20, 30, 40 years ago,” he said.
“And that’s what we’ve heard is happening in Nova Scotia. I mean, just over the past month, I’ve had two or three incidents with respect to Sikh students facing discrimination in Nova Scotia.”
Singh said while Canada welcomes many international students and immigrants, it doesn’t always put supports in place to help them integrate and settle in.
While there are resources like the Sikh Family Helpline, those are often funded and driven by the community rather than those in power.
“Canada prides itself on being diverse and welcoming diversity, but racism is a very live issue,” he said.
“It’s a daily experience for many individuals in Canada. And I think that’s something that we either choose to forget or ignore.”
— with files from Ahmar Khan