Toronto, April 14 : Friends, family and comm ty members gathered to pay tribute to 21-year-old Indian student Kartik Vasudev who was fatally shot in Toronto last week. On April 7, Vasudev, was shot and killed in broad daylight outside Sherbourne subway station in what is believed to be a targeted incident. He was one of two men shot dead in Toronto last week in what police are calling “random” acts of violence. On Tuesday, police charged Richard Jonathan Edwin, a 39-year-old from Toronto, with two counts of first-degree murder. It is alleged that Edwin also shot and killed 35-year-old Elijah Eleazar Mahepath near Dundas and George streets, after killing Kartik. The funeral for Vasudev was held on Wednesday at the Lotus Funeral and Cremation Centre in Etobicoke, where many gathered to remember a young man whose life was taken in a brazen act of violence. Kartik earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in India before starting a part-time job in the city and studying Marketing Management at Seneca College’s York campus. He had only started classes in January. In the days following his son’s death Jitesh Vasudev remembered his son as a great child who kept to himself. “He was a very shy person. He’s very thoughtful… he’s just very, very private,” Jitesh said. “As much as we say we can’t imagine what the parents are feeling back home, we really can’t imagine what they’re feeling back home,” Renata D’Innocenzo, Vice President of Students and Strategy at Seneca College, said. “Having their child thousands of miles away and having this happen to them … he [Kartik] was making friends, he was doing really well.” Most of the small crowd that attended Wednesday’s service said they didn’t know Kartik personally, with many international students sharing their shock and sympathies at the recent tragedy. D’Innocenzo said that the school has been providing mental support in the form of counsellors and support groups to anyone that needs it. She said that the college ultimately decided to invite any willing students to attend the funeral in Etobicoke instead of holding an event at school. According to reports, the post-mortem has been completed and the mortal remains are expected to be repatriated to India this week. Vasudev’s aunt started a GoFundMe to recognize her nephew with a goal of $75,000. As of Wednesday, over 1,500 donations have been made, with more than $61,000 raised. Saket Arora and Smriti Arora, listed as the fundraiser’s organizers, said this would help Kartik’s relatives cope during this difficult time. “This will be to support the family who [not only] have lost their beloved son but spent all their savings and took loans to give their child a better tomorrow.” A candlelight vigil was held by Seneca College students on Sunday afternoon at Nathan Phillips Square, with guests carrying signs that read “I am Kartik.” “It could have been any of us,” said one of the hundreds who attended. “It could have been me, your parents, anybody. Anyone of your loved ones.” That same day, more than 1,000 people gathered outside Vasudev’s school in Ghaziabad, in India, to demand justice. Jitesh said he is working with the Indian consulate in Toronto to get his son’s body back to India. Police chief James Ramer said Vasudev and Mahepath were not known to the accused or each other, and investigators are still working to find a motive for the killings. Ramer said there was sufficient evidence to assume the suspect was planning further attacks. Seneca College President David Agnew, in an address at the memorial, said “Kartik was an international student who joined us in January. He came from India, where his family – his parents and a brother – live in a city near the capital of Delhi. “Like so many of our international students, Kartik was hoping to make a new life in Canada after finishing his studies with us. A versity graduate, he was enrolled in a graduate certificate in marketing. Within weeks of coming to Canada, he was already working at a part-time job. By all accounts, he was a bright, friendly and nice young man. “I had the privilege of attending a candlelight vigil for Kartik on Sunday, organized by the Seneca Student Federation. On behalf of all of us at Seneca, I expressed our sorrow, our condolences to the family and how we struggle to make sense of a senseless act. “We have been in touch with the family and have worked with the Indian Consulate to support Kartik’s family as best we can through this painful and grievous time. “Our international students have every right to ask if they can be assured that they have come to a safe city and country. Indeed, when such violence happens, we all ask ourselves what has become of our comm ty. “This is not a time for statistics, but I want to reassure all of the Seneca comm ty that Toronto, Ontario and Canada remain among the safest places on earth. Sadly, but inevitably, bad things happen. They are rare.” RN
