Family of 21 year-old Indian student shot in Canada await court hearing
The court hearing in relation to the death of Kartik Vasudev, a management student who was shot dead in Canada, will be held on Wednesday as his family plans to travel to the North American country by next week to attend the proceedings.
The family, who completed the final rituals of their son in Haridwar, will be holding a prayer meet at Agrasen Bhawan for the deceased 21year-old on Tuesday.
“The court hearing has been set for Wednesday due to the public holidays in Canada and we plan to talk to the lawyers that are representing Kartik in this case soon,” said Jitesh Vasudev, father of Kartik Vasudev, who added that the family will be planning its visit to Canada accordingly.
The body of the Seneca College student was received by his family at Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi, from where he was taken to his residence in Ghaziabad on Saturday.
Jitesh Vasudev, father of the Indian student Kartik Vasudev, had told the Free Press Journal that he believed the attack against his son wasn’t a random act of violence but possibly a “hate crime” after Toronto Police announced the arrest of a 39-year-old man in connection with the crime.
“The angle being presented by the Toronto Police, that it’s a random attack, is not believable. It’s not normal that loaded ammunition has been recovered from the suspect’s home,” said Mr. Vasudev, who questioned why the suspect, Richard Jonathan Edwin , specifically killed his son and another brown individual.
Kartik, who worked parttime at a Mexican restaurant in Toronto, was reported missing by his roommate to the police. The roommate also informed Kartik’s father about him not having reached work nor was he picking up his phone.
The family of the Ghaziabad resident learned about Kartik’s death around 11 am on April 8. They realised that he was the victim of a shooting incident after identifying his bag and shoes which were visible on a local news network’s report of the incident. The network did not name the student in its initial report. Kartik moved to Canada in January 2022 to pursue his studies.