ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Man claming abuse over Sikh identity convicted for killing UK student
The case involved the use of a kirpan, a ceremonial knife carried by initiated Sikhs as an article of faith.
-
AFP - Thu, 28, May 2026
- 18:41 EDT
- 333
Vickrum Digwa (left) and Kiran Kaur / hampshire.police.uk
The UK Sikh community has faced a wave of online abuse and hostility during the trial of a man convicted of murdering a university student in Southampton.
A UK court May 28 convicted a Sikh man for stabbing a university student, as police apologized for arresting and handcuffing the victim before he died in a case seized upon by far-right figures.
Hampshire Police said it was "deeply sorry" about the way officers treated Henry Nowak, an accountancy and finance student, in December in Southampton in a case that was highlighted by Elon Musk as well as leading British far-right personalities.
The force said it had referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct watchdog.
The apology came after a jury at Southampton Crown Court found 23-year-old Vickrum Digwa, a British national, guilty of murdering Nowak by stabbing him multiple times.
The case grew in prominence after far-right figures including Musk, Britain's Tommy Robinson and others highlighted it on social media.
They raised concerns about police initially failing to aid Nowak, instead arresting and handcuffing him, because Digwa claimed he had been racially abused.
"Why have they said nothing about the murder, aided by the police, of this innocent English boy?" Musk wrote on X during the trial.
Robert Jenrick of the hard-right Reform UK party raised the case in parliament during the legal process, claiming it showed "two-tier policing".
Neighbours reported hearing Nowak say that he had been stabbed and was dying, according to the prosecution.
But police only started giving him first aid after he fell and became unconscious. Medics were unable to save him.
Jurors convicted Digwa on May 28 after deliberating since the day before. They also found him guilty of carrying a knife in public, while his mother was convicted of assisting an offender.
Wicked lie
Digwa will be sentenced on June 1.
The incident unfolded when Nowak encountered Digwa while walking home from a night out with his football team.
The convicted killer claimed during the trial that Nowak was drunk and had racially abused him, punched him and knocked his turban off. He told the court he had stabbed the teenager in self-defence.
But prosecutors said Nowak was under the drink-drive limit and the racial abuse claim was a "wicked lie".
Detailing how Digwa stabbed Nowak five times, in the legs and chest, they noted he had failed to tell police officers at the scene that he had knifed the teenager, instead insisting he had been racially abused and attacked.
The jury heard Nowak had filmed part of the encounter on his phone, during which Digwa was heard saying "I'm a bad man".
He took Nowak's phone during the altercation while his family members had removed the knife from the scene, the court heard.
As a Sikh, Digwa was allowed to carry a kirpan, a curved dagger that Sikhs must carry with them at all times as an article of their faith.
Digwa wore a small kirpan round his neck, but also carried another knife used to stab Nowak that was "very large", the prosecution said, with a 21-centimetre (8-inch) blade.
The Sikh Federation said that the wider community had "unacceptably faced considerable abuse and hate during the trial".
Discover More At New India Abroad
Related
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
E Paper
Video
Comments
Start the conversation
Become a member of New India Abroad to start commenting.
Sign Up Now
Already have an account? Login