‘No one is safe here’
Fear grips tiny N.S. town after late-night murder of Indian taxi driver
TRURO, N.S.—The violent murder of a 23-year-old Sikh taxi driver last weekend has left members of the Indian community in this small town at the hub of Nova Scotia reeling in shock and fearing for their safety.
Prabhjot Singh, who was driving a taxi part time, was found when Truro police responded to a call at an apartment building at about 2 a.m. last Sunday. Singh was in critical condition and was transported to hospital where he died of his wounds.
Police have not released much information on the crime scene or on the victim’s injuries, but his friends say he died violently, of a stabbing.
They have expressed worry on social media that his death was racially motivated. Although Truro police have deemed his death a homicide, Chief David MacNeil said they had no information on the motive for his killing.
Police executed a series of search warrants over the weekend, which resulted in the arrest of one person, who was released without charges, but remains a person of interest.
At a vigil Friday in Truro, population 12,260, about 500 people showed up to mourn Singh and support his family.
Carrying signs that read “We Are Scared,” “Justice for Prabhjot Singh” and “Prabhjot Deserved Better,” mourners marched through the streets of Truro, past the town hall, where the flag of India was flying at half-mast, to the apartment building where Singh was killed.
Almost half of that number were Truro residents, who were not Indian, who were there to lend support to the Indian members of their community.
“We appreciate all the people coming here to help us, help my family get justice,” said a teary Rajveer Kaur, Singh’s sister.
“This is not just for the Indian community,” said Joban deep Singh, a friend of Prabhjot Singh, of the vigil and the march.
“This is for everyone. No one is safe here. This is what we feel. Because it could happen anytime, anywhere. (Singh’s murder) happened right in front of his house. So that’s why we’re scared.”
“We thank everybody here for helping us raise our volume (of our voices) to help us get justice for our wonderful friend who is not with us today.
“We just want justice for him.” Darlene MacDonald, Singh’s employer at Layton’s Taxi, remembers him as a quiet, friendly, happy-go-lucky man, who worked three part-time jobs to support his mother back in India. She remembers that he always had a smile for everyone, no matter what kind of a day he was having.
She said she was in shock when she heard the news about his death, which was passed on to her by an employee who called to tell her he wasn’t coming in to work because of Singh’s murder.
“We’ve lost four drivers this week,” she said. “The town of Truro has got businesses that are closing at nighttime now because they don’t have the people to work the night shifts because they were mainly friends and family and community of his.”
“They’re afraid. They think it’s a hate crime. Nobody knows what it is because there’s no answers.”
An online fundraiser campaign set up earlier in the week to raise money to send Singh’s body back to India surpassed its $50,000 target quickly.
Kaur, who organized the GoFundMe campaign, wrote on the page that a “crazy group of guys” stabbed Singh while he was returning from a friend’s place.
“Help send the body (of) our loved friend to India, so his parents can see their son for the last time,” she wrote.
Truro police are investigating the crime.