Accused Gets Life for Killing Sikh in NZ; Hate Crime in Los Angeles

In New Zealand, Lorenzo Tangira who attacked and killed Indian national Ramandeep Singh while he was on duty as a security guard in West Auckland has been sentenced to life sentence with a minimum term of imprisonment of 13 years and nine months. His 17-year-old (unnamed because minor) co-accused was found unfit to stand trial after a separate hearing in April. Meanwhile in Los Angeles, a 70-year-old Sikh man Harpal Singh was nearly bludgeoned to death with a golf club on 4 Aug in what is being considered a possible hate crime. The brutal violence unfolded outside a 7-Eleven store near the intersection of Saticoy Street and Lankershim Boulevard. Witnesses said a man on a bicycle attacked Harpal with a golf club. In parallel, on 5 Aug, the Federal Bureau of Investigation released its annual report of hate crime statistics for 2024 which said there were 142 religiously motivated hate-crimes against Sikhs, down from 150 in 2023 and 198 in 2022. Sikhs continue to be the third most targeted group under religiously motivated hate crime in the US, after Jews and Muslims. Concurrently in Italy, on 18 Jul, a migrant worker from Panjab Balvir Kumar Birra lost his life in a road accident. Like Satnam Singh in 2024, Birra died in the Latina province where the death rate in road accidents increased by 47% from 2019 to 2023. This is where migrant workers are engaged in agricultural labor, a large share of them Panjabis and do not get safe travel options to go to work in fields. Whereas in Canada, Indian comedian and actor Kapil Sharma’s cafe was shot at for the second time and an alleged recording of a Lawrence Bishnoi gang member has surfaced. A man in the audio clip claimed to be a Bishnoi gang member named Harry Boxer, who threatened to gun down Bollywood filmmakers, actors, and producers working with Indian actor Salman Khan. Khan was accused of killing blackbucks in Jodhpur, Rajasthan in 1998. Though Indian courts let Khan walk free, the Bishnoi community holds him responsible for the killings (earlier coverage).