More than two years after losing his son to an alleged impaired and dangerous driver, Bahadur Singh Randhawa says his family is in agony, waiting for answers and justice.
Sanehpal Singh Randhawa died on Dec. 29, 2019 after a collision between his cab and a Car2Go in Vancouver.
The Vancouver Police Department said at the time it believed speed and alcohol were factors, and the Car2Go driver may have run a red light and T-boned Singh Randhawa’s car.
“I am living for justice, I am fighting for justice,” Singh Randhawa told Global News.
The driver of the Car2Go, a man his 20s, was left in critical condition by the accident and his since returned to his home country of Ireland.
Vancouver police recommended six charges against him related to impaired and dangerous driving in March 2020, but said they weren’t likely to be approved because of the man’s medical condition.
“That is totally injustice for Sanehpal Singh Randhawa or people who are working hard in this country and do their best,” said Singh Randhawa.
In the years since his son’s death, Singh Randhawa said he has reached out to provincial and federal officials for support obtaining justice for his son, but has received no responses.
Sanehpal, who was 28 at the time of his death, worked two jobs and was described by friends as a “decent” and “kind” man.
“I say about my son, everything is good,” said Singh Randhawa. “He’s not my star, he’s a star of Canadian and Indian.”
By email, Vancouver police said its investigators “submitted a thorough and lengthy report” to Crown counsel in the case, but it couldn’t comment on the status of file, which rests with the BC Prosecution Service.
In its own written statement, the BC Prosecution Service said it had “no comment on the process or the challenges presented by the facts of this case before the charge assessment process is complete.”
“We do not currently have a timeline for the completion of the assessment,” wrote Dan McLaughlin, communications counsel.
Ravi Hira, a Vancouver-based criminal lawyer who is not connected to the case, decried the lack of communication from the Crown on the case, particularly with the victim’s family.
“It creates greater hardship for victims, it creates memory problems for witnesses and it creates issues with respect to the public respect for the administration of justice when justice is delayed for so long at the hands of the Crown,” he said.
In serious cases, charges are typically approved and onus is on the accused to prove they are not fit to stand trial, Hira explained. If their evidence is accepted by the Crown or the court, the Crown can stay the proceedings, withdraw the charges or adjourn the proceedings until the accused becomes fit to stand trial.
“That type of process again makes it clear to victims, makes it clear to the public, makes it clear to British Columbians, why things are being done,” said Hira. “We need to have more of that.”
Meanwhile, Singh Randhawa and his family are left waiting for justice.
“If he is guilty, then press him, if he is not guilty, then you release him,” he told Global News. “We want justice.”
- 2 teens charged with murder in case of 16-year-old killed outside Halifax mall
- Green Party deputy leader given jail sentence for Fairy Creek old growth protests
- Cars torched, explosions heard in suspected arson in Montreal neighbourhood
- Gas station clerk stabbed several times during violent attack at Ultramar in Montreal
Comments