It all went wrong on May 15. Vidhi Kalpeshbhai Meghani left her house in the region of Niagara in Canada. She never made it back. An unexpected knife fight claimed her life just on the spot in the street. She was only 22. Emergency personnel discovered that she was bleeding profusely. They immediately rushed her to a local hospital, at the quickest speed of the ambulance. The doctors did all they could. But upon arrival they declared her dead.
The local police acted quickly. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police put up a tight net and arrested a suspect. They are holding back on the details at the moment, though. They haven’t released the attacker’s name or age. They do not give any reason for their action. There were some early rumors that it could be a street robbery gone wrong, but investigators are keeping all their doors open. The gun has been picked up and the scene is being investigated by detectives.
Dreams Left Behind
Vidhi was a long way from home. She was originally from Borsad in the Anand district of Gujarat. Four years ago she put her suitcases together and went to the other side of the world to learn about law. She really wanted a better life. She was looking to pursue a career in Canada.
Being an international student is a tremendous toil. During the day she attended her University courses. She was employed part-time to make ends meet and feed her family. In fact she was in between the big milestones. She was busy filling in the forms for Permanent Residency. For students away from home that is the golden ticket for PR status. It indicates that you are now on the system! She was very close. Then a knife in the dark came and stole it all.
The Agonizing Delay
This is the ultimate hard news. The attack happened on May 15. Her family, back in Gujarat had no clue. Days passed by. Her parents attempted to call her cell phone. It just rang out. They went to her friends. Nobody knew anything. There was no sound and the fear grew. It was finally time to call for the authorities to come to their aid.
The news was not from a quick phone call from a roommate. It arrived in a diplomatic manner and via cold channels. A few days later, officers rapped at the door in Borsad to inform the parents their daughter was murdered in a different country. When it goes wrong, these young students are neatly isolated, as the delay in the communication shows. Now, the family is just waiting. They are struggling to get her body flown back to Gujarat so they can bid her goodbye as per their wish.
Cops Talking Across Borders
The arrest altered the trajectory of the case. The wheels of legal proceedings have now begun to roll. A murder case with a foreign national is not a simple straight-line investigation. It gets messy fast. It’s here that the cops from two nations need to sit down and talk.
India and Canada are now beginning to exchange notes. The ground investigation is being carried out by the RCMP. They have the man in their custody. They reign over the physical crime scene. However, Indian officials are pressing the case hard via diplomatic channels. They are seeking by name the people responsible for this. When the suspect is also part of a larger network and/or there is any transnational connection, then the Indian police will seek a seat at the table. They’re trading personal information. They are sharing all the digital footprints they can get off her back home phone records. It’s a slow transfer of paperwork, but that’s happening now. The Canadian cops are under scrutiny to be transparent in the evidence they are collecting from New Delhi.
The Extradition Puzzle
This introduces a huge legal conundrum. Extradition. It may become a very complicated situation if the RCMP arrests the suspect with an Indian passport. What if the investigators could find a second suspect who was able to flee the country and hide out in India?
Extradition treaties simply are a contract whereby one country delivers an offender to another country. They are a known speed demon. They’re surrounded by red tape. If the trial must take place in India or if India wants to get a recalcitrant accomplice back at Niagara, it will have to invoke the treaty. Attorneys are already examining the structure in case of an emergency. It is a matter of formal requests by the Ministry of External Affairs. It demands that the basic facts of the crime be agreed to by judges in both countries. The paperwork takes months to uncover before anyone even gets onto an airplane with handcuffs on.
The main culprit is on trial in a Canadian cell. Under Canadian law, the local prosecutors believe they have a solid murder charge, and will try the case in Ontario. However, the Indian government is keeping a close eye on each and every court case. Once there is a glimmer of hope that the accused may be able to get away with a legal loophole, you’ll witness a concerted effort by Indians to get the accused extradited and prosecuted themselves. They will not go away without a fuss.
A Growing Fear
This isn’t the first. This situation is only further complicated by this case. Indian students continue to suffer injuries in foreign countries. The figures are becoming hard to swallow. A 30-year-old Himanshi Khurana died last December. The shooting of a 21-year-old Harsimkar Randhawa from Punjab was recorded just a few weeks ago in April. A 32 year old man was arrested by the police for that one. However, as soon as the killer is caught, the next bullet is fired.
