A 23-year-old woman from Punjab’s Ludhiana district died after being allegedly strangled by her live-in partner in Edmonton, Canada, in an incident local police have classified as an intimate partner homicide. The accused has been taken into custody by local authorities and formally charged with second-degree murder.
The victim, identified as Damanpreet Kaur, originally hailed from the Samrala region of Ludhiana and had moved to Canada five years ago to pursue her higher education. According to the Edmonton Police Service, emergency responders were called to a residence in the Silverberry neighbourhood on July 9 following reports of an unresponsive woman suffering from suspicious injuries. She was transported to a local hospital in critical condition, where she succumbed to her injuries on July 12.
A subsequent autopsy conducted on July 14 confirmed that the cause of death was strangulation, leading medical examiners and law enforcement to rule the incident a homicide. Police officials stated that details regarding the specific cause of death were temporarily withheld during the initial phase of the investigation.
The suspect, identified as 22-year-old Ritish Kumar, originally from Delhi, was arrested on July 22 and faces charges of second-degree murder. Homicide investigators confirmed that they are treating the case as an intimate partner crime and are not seeking any additional suspects. Meanwhile, community members have organized a fundraiser to assist the victim’s family with repatriating her mortal remains back to Punjab for the final rites.
