Family tried registering Davinder and Kirpal Minhas online for a Canadian government repatriation flight, but couldn’t because they were not citizens
CALGARY — A retired couple stranded in India by the COVID-19 pandemic were killed and robbed before they could get on a flight back to Canada.
It was the first trip back for the permanent residents, who used to run a transportation company, since they came to Canada in late 2016. Loved ones booked them on another flight arranged through a Vancouver volunteer group in late April, but that, too, was cancelled. The couple’s two sons reside in the United States — one in Austin, Texas, and the other in New York — and their two daughters live in northeast Calgary. The couple lived with one of them. The children were in frequent contact with their parents while they were overseas.
Rathore said he’s been told police have arrested a tenant, who was taking care of one of his parents’ properties, and two other men, but charges have not been laid. He said he understands his mother-in-law was out for a walk, but the assailants were hiding in the home when she returned 15 to 20 minutes later. She was attacked and strangled, Rathore said. Extended family in India arranged for the couple to be cremated in the Sikh tradition on Tuesday. Their children in North America were devastated to not be able to pay their final respects in person due to ongoing novel coronavirus travel restrictions, Rathore said.
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