‘Violence has to be stopped’
Murder victim’s grieving uncle asks public to help police find her killer
The uncle of a young Surrey woman murdered last week says her devastated family is hoping someone will come forward with information that leads to an arrest.
Kulwant Dhesi also said the senseless violence that led to his niece Kiran’s slaying must not be inflicted on other families.
“I appeal to everyone in the public ... if you have any evidence, please give it to the police,” Dhesi said Tuesday. “The violence has to be stopped.”
Kiran’s family and friends remembered the Kwantlen University student at a candlelight vigil in Surrey on Tuesday at Cougar Creek Elementary School, 12236-70A Ave.
Her funeral is scheduled for next Sunday, her grieving uncle said.
The 19-year-old’s body was found inside a burnt-out vehicle near 24th Avenue and 188th Street on Aug. 2. Dhesi said Kiran had told her family she would be out for a couple of hours when she left home at 9 p.m. on Aug. 1.
He said police contacted the family when their torched SUV was found about 12:30 a.m. on Aug. 2, but there was no word about a body. So they still held out hope that Kiran might be with friends until the police contacted them again later that morning to say she had been found dead.
Dhesi works with his brother — Kiran’s dad — in the family’s trucking business.
“The family is very nice — a very hard-working family,” he said.
Kiran’s mom is really struggling to come to terms with the murder, Dhesi said.
She had been by her daughter’s side throughout the teen’s struggle with poor health for more than four years.
Dhesi said his niece was diagnosed at age 15 with Wegener’s disease, which damaged her kidneys. She finally got a transplant in February and spent about two months recovering, said Dhesi, a businessman and community leader.
“Her mom was all the time with her. If she was in the hospital for 14 days, the mom stayed there 14 days and nights,” Dhesi said. “She always stayed with her daughter.”
Compounding the tragic murder is that Kiran had finally felt like “she could start a new life,” Dhesi said.
The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team is in charge of the case.
Cpl. Meghan Foster said Tuesday there is no new information to release. Earlier, Foster said investigators were talking to a number of “persons of interest” and that the murder wasn’t random and wasn’t linked to gang activity.
“I can’t speak to the nature of the association in which these persons of interests are,” Foster said.
Anyone with information is asked to call the IHIT at 1-877-551-4448 or email ihitinfo@rcmp-grc.gc.ca.
“I appeal to everyone in the public ... if you have any evidence, please give it to the police.” — Kulwant Dhesi, the uncle of 19-year-old murder victim Kiran Dhesi