Ex-boyfriend charged in B.C. model’s slaying
SURREY, B.C.— More than a year after popular university student Maple Batalia was gunned down in a campus parking lot, RCMP announced late Saturday that they have charged two men — one of them a former boyfriend of the victim.
Batalia, 19, was an aspiring actor and model who planned to be a doctor when she was shot after a late-night study session on Sept. 28, 2011, at Simon Fraser University’s Surrey campus. RCMP announced Saturday night that former boyfriend Gurjinder “Gary” Dhaliwal, 20, was arrested Friday and charged with first-degree murder.
A second man, Gursimar Singh Bedi, 22, was also arrested Friday and charged with manslaughter, using a firearm and being an accessory after the fact. RCMP described the two men only as “associates.”
“This isn’t an easy day for us. It’s very bittersweet,” said Roseleen Batalia, the victim’s sister. “While we can’t bring Maple back, we’re happy to see that the people responsible will now suffer the consequences.”
She said it had been a long wait but the arrests made the waiting worthwhile. “Hopefully we can get some closure which will give us a little peace of mind. We won’t get her back but this will help in the griev- ing process.” Batalia grew up in Canada after moving here with her family as a baby. She had taken modelling and acting jobs to help pay for her education and had had a small part in the movie Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules. Her death was particularly shocking because it occurred in such a public place, said RCMP Asst. Commissioner Norm Lipinski. The two suspects are scheduled to appear in court Monday. Batalia’s family, who said she dreamed of becoming a doctor, has set up a scholarship in her name at Simon Fraser University to help future students studying health sciences. She was given her unusual first name after her father, Harkirat Batalia, remembered how he had been struck by the vivid autumn colours during a visit to the U.S. one autumn. He named her Maple before the family even knew they were going to move to Canada from India, he told the Vancouver Sun last year.