This week marks a month since Harmandeep Kaur was killed while working a security shift at UBC Okanagan and there have been no arrests as of yet.
Kelowna RCMP said Wednesday that the suspect is still in hospital after being apprehended under the Mental Health Act in the immediate aftermath of the fatal attack on Kaur.
“This is an active, ongoing investigation,” Cpl. Tammy Lobb said in an email.
“As with any major crime investigation, investigators work to compile as much evidence as possible to build these cases and they work closely with Crown Prosecutors who determine whether or not there is enough evidence to support criminal charges being laid.”
Whether a charge would come once the suspect is released from the hospital is unknown but Lobb said investigators take into account the risk to public safety and they advocate to the Crown whenever they believe an individual poses a risk to public safety, making recommendations they should be held or remanded into custody.
Until then, the investigation continues.
Lobb explained that in conducting homicide investigations, there are processes involved that could include interviewing multiple people, reviewing electronic devices and digital evidence, as well as having evidence forensically analyzed.
If DNA testing is required, this in itself can take months. If judicial authorizations are required, these can also take time, Lobb said.
“It is not as simple as a crime is committed, a witness provides a statement and the investigation is completed,” Sgt. Paul Gosling of the Kelowna RCMP serious crime unit said in a statement.
“We have to prove a case beyond a reasonable doubt which in itself takes time and this is if there are no issues that arise throughout the investigation which could prolong the process even further.”
Kaur, 24, was a student at Okanagan College and recently got her permanent residency card. A fundraiser in her name indicates she’d been in the country for five years had aspirations to be a paramedic.
Kaur was working as a security guard at UBC Okanagan and RCMP said it was Feb. 26 at 5:55 a.m. when she was fatally attacked by someone else who worked on the campus. Whether the two knew each other has not been established but it’s since been stated that the man worked at a janitorial company contracted by the university.
A GoFundMe campaign to support Kaur’s family far exceeded its $25,000 goal and reached $77,769 in recent days.
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