While the victim of the stabbing incident has yet to be formally identified, people offering support to his wife in the town of Rockland, Ontario, said he was 27-year-old Dharmesh Kathireeya.
They said that, on Friday afternoon, while exiting a shared laundry room in the building he resided in, he was stabbed by a neighbor, a white male believed to be in his 60s, who had earlier allegedly hurled racial and anti-Indian epithets at the victim and his wife.
Kathireeya, who hailed from Bhavnagar district in Gujarat, came to Canada as an international student in 2019 and was on a work permit.
The people who spoke to the Hindustan Times requested that their names be withheld due to concerns for their safety. They shared videos taken as police arrested the suspect. His young wife, who had joined Kathireeya in Canada last year, can be heard shrieking in distress in one of them.
The alleged attacker was taken into custody by police after the incident, but his name has yet to be released.
An online fundraiser for the victim’s family said, “It is with profound sadness and heartbreak that we share the tragic and sudden loss of our dear friend, Dharmesh. On April 4th, 2025, Dharmesh was taken from us in an unprovoked hate crime and senseless attack by a neighbor. The violence that ended his life has left his family, friends, and the entire community in shock and mourning.”
Kathireeya was employed with Milano Pizza Rockland, located close to the apartment complex where he lived. A Facebook message from the eatery said, “It is with deep sadness that we announce the temporary closure of Milano Pizza, effective immediately and until further notice. Our beloved manager Dharmesh tragically passed away in a terrible incident on April 4th.”
Earlier on Friday, India’s High Commission in Ottawa stated, in a post on X, “We are deeply saddened by the tragic death of an Indian national in Rockland near Ottawa due to a stabbing. Police have stated that a suspect has been taken into custody. We are in close contact through a local community association to provide all possible assistance to the bereaved kin.”
The murder is being investigated by the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP).
His family in India was informed of the tragedy on Saturday.
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