Europe News Desk!!! Two teenagers have been jailed in 2021 for killing a 16-year-old Sikh boy who they mistakenly thought was a member of a rival gang in west London. Police gave this information. Vanushan Balakrishnan, 18, and Ilyas Sulaiman, 18, of Hillingdon, were sentenced at the Old Bailey on Wednesday for the stabbing death of Rishimeet Singh. Police said Balakrishnan was sentenced to life imprisonment to serve a minimum sentence of 24 years and Suleman to serve a minimum sentence of 21 years. Rishmeet’s mother Gulinder said in a statement, Rishmeet has finally got justice, but her punishment will never be enough for me. They have snatched my whole life from me and Rishmeet will never come home again.
Rishimeet, who came to the UK in October 2019 with his mother and grandmother to seek asylum from Afghanistan, was stabbed 15 times. Rishimeet’s father was killed by the Taliban, and shortly after they tried to kidnap the young boy and forced the family to flee to the UK. Detective Inspector Laura Semple, from the Met’s Specialist Crime Command, said: “Rishimeet was an innocent, 16-year-old young man who had his whole life ahead of him. He had spent a pleasant evening with his friends and was taking the short walk home when Balakrishnan and Sulaiman chased him and stabbed him to death. There are no excuses for someone to be brutally murdered, Semple said, but what makes this case even more tragic is the fact that Rishimeet was unfairly targeted by his assailants.
On the night of November 24, 2021, Rishimeet was on his way home from his friends after enjoying a pleasant evening out in Southall, when he saw two unidentified youths running towards him. He immediately ran to Raleigh Road in Southall, where he staggered and fell. One of his pursuers stabbed him in the back at least five times. After that the other youth also started stabbing him. After this the attackers left him and went away. On being informed, officers and London Ambulance Service personnel rushed to the spot, but despite their best efforts, Rishimeet died on the spot. During interrogation, it was revealed that Balakrishnan and Suleman left their bikes near the bridge and followed Rishimeet on foot. Balakrishnan attacked him first and then Sulaiman.
They were caught on CCTV fleeing the scene. Balakrishnan was arrested from his home on December 2, 2021 and Suleman was arrested on December 9 from Edgware. Rishimeet’s mother said, Rishimeet was my only child, and he had his whole life ahead of him. No words can ever explain or put into context how I have felt since Rishimeet was taken from us. He has been brought up with so much love and now he is gone. I am struggling to understand how and why this happened to my child. I feel that I have lost everything and my life is over. Rishimeet was going to college to complete a public service course and his ambition was to become a police officer.
–IANS
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