Sikh community mourns pedestrian struck by Halifax transit bus as latest in series of tragedies

An aerial view of the front of the Maritime Sikh Society Gurdwara, Halifax, N.S. (Source: Faceboo)

The Maritime Sikh community is in mourning for Satinder Kaur, a 24-year old woman who died after being struck by a Halifax transit bus Thursday.

Satinder was living in Canada for 3-years and recently obtained her permanent residence. She frequented the Sikh temple in Halifax with her husband.

Balbir Singh, secretary of the Maritime Sikh Society said he met Satinder multiple times. He was expecting her to be at the temple that day to participate in Diwali celebrations.

“Gives an impression that you lost somebody who knew you, you were close to. You can imagine when you hear the news that one more girl has died today, it’s really unbelievable,” Singh said.

Singh said Satinder’s family has been struggling since Satinder’s death. The Sikh Society has helped her family arrange her funeral.

“Her husband is here and her sister arrived from Toronto. The rest of her family will be coming from India tomorrow,” said Singh. “The husband is so traumatized because he was so shocked by her death.”

Satinder’s death is the latest tragedy to shake the Sikh community. Members have been mourning the death of 19-year old Gursimran Kaur who was found by her mother in a walk-in oven at a Walmart in Halifax on Oct. 19. Funeral arrangements for Gursimran have not been made.

“Two deaths in the [the] span of 10 days is really…you’re not prepared for that. You’re taken off guard,” said Singh.

In August, Singh arranged support for a 26-year old woman's family when she was reported missing and later found dead. Jashandeep Kaur was kayaking at Long Lake Provincial Park when police received a call from someone in the area who found her empty kayak with her personal belongings.

Singh said the community is shocked after the loss of the three young women,

“Everybody’s concerned with why these young women who come with dreams to this beautiful land and meet this kind of end,” Singh said. “It’s been hard.”

The Maritime Sikh Society is providing counselling for Gursimran and Satinder’s families. The society organized additional workshops and counselling sessions for the community.

“We will be meeting all those people who have concerns or who need counselling so that things like this can be addressed properly and people who are traumatized, or people who are having some kind of worry can have access to that,” said Singh.

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