Two Indian students found murdered in Canada in a fortnight. Who were they?

2 amerindic nationals were found murdered in Canada within a span of two weeks, triggering concern among the Indian community, though police say the circumstances surrounding the two deaths are not linked.

The latest incident involved the fatal shooting of Indian doctoral student Shivank Avasthi near the University of Toronto’s Scarborough campus, while the earlier case involved the killing of an Indian woman, Himanshi Khurana, in what police suspect was an incident of intimate partner violence.

Toronto Police said on Tuesday that an Indian doctoral student, identified as Shivank Avasthi, was killed in a shooting in the Highland Creek Trail and Old Kingston Road area, close to the University of Toronto Scarborough Campus.

Police said they rushed to the spot after receiving information about the shooting and found the victim with a gunshot wound. He was pronounced dead at the scene, the Toronto Sun reported. Officials said the suspects fled before police arrived, and the campus was locked down during the investigation.

According to the Toronto Sun, the killing marked Toronto’s 41st homicide of the year, and was the second death of an Indian due to a crime in the city in a matter of days.

The Consulate General of India in Toronto said it was in touch with the victim’s family and was providing assistance.

"We express deep anguish over the tragic death of a young Indian doctoral student, Mr Shivank Avasthi, in a fatal shooting incident near the University of Toronto Scarborough Campus,” the Consulate General of India in Canada’s Toronto said in a statement on X.

In a separate incident, Himanshi Khurana, a 30-year-old Indian national, was found murdered in Toronto last week. The image of the victim released by police matched that of one posted on social media by a user bearing the same name. On that profile, she described herself as a Toronto-based digital creator, as mentioned in an earlier HT report.

Canadian law enforcement authorities confirmed the killing and issued a search warrant for 32-year-old Abdul Ghafoori on a charge of first-degree murder.

In a press statement, the Toronto Police Service said officers responded to a missing person call in the Strachan Avenue and Wellington Street West areas on the night of December 19. At around 6.30 am on Saturday, December 20, police found the woman dead inside a residence.

Police said it is alleged that the victim and the suspect knew each other.

Toronto Police officers initially responded to a call to locate a missing person at 10.41 pm on Friday, following which an investigation was launched.

On Saturday morning, “officers located the missing female deceased inside a residence,” a Toronto Police release issued on Monday said. The death was later classified as a homicide, after which the service’s Homicide Unit took over the investigation.

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