Rishmeet Singh, an Afghan Sikh refugee was murdered by two teenagers in London. Rishmeet,16, was walking home when he saw two unidentified men running towards him. He ran down Raleigh Road in Southall where he tripped and fell. He was stabbed atleast 15 times by the attackers. His attackers then fled, leaving his bloodied and injured body on the ground. This whole attack lasted 27 seconds. However the accused claimed that they mistakenly thought Rashmeet belonged to a rival gang. Police is although investigating over this. Vanushan Balakrishnan and Ilyas Suleiman, both 18, were convicted of the murder of Rishmeet Singh “in cold blood” following a trial at the Old Bailey court in London. The duo will be sentenced at the same court next month. Inquiries revealed that Balakrishnan and Suleiman dumped their bikes near the bridge and chased after Rishmeet on foot, with Balakrishnan attacking him first followed by Suleiman.

“Rishmeet was an innocent, young 16-year-old who had his whole life ahead of him. He had just spent an enjoyable evening with his friends and was making the short walk home when he was callously chased down and knifed to death by Balakrishnan and Suleiman,” said detective inspector Laura Semple, from the Metropolitan Police’s specialist crime command.

During the trial, it emerged that Rishmeet came to the UK in October 2019 with his mother and grandmother to seek asylum from Jalalabad in Afghanistan. His father was killed by the Taliban six months prior to that, and shortly after they tried to kidnap Rishmeet – forcing the family to flee to the UK.

The pair will be sentenced at the Old Bailey on April 28, 2023.