Death of UBCO security guard prompts call for more mental health supports

UPDATE:

A GoFundMe account has been set up for Harmandeep Kaur. Organizer Kuljit Pabla, said Harmandeep, originally from Kapurthla, Punjab, India, came to Canada in 2015 with the dream of furthering her education by attending university and eventually becoming a paramedic.

She first studied at Columbia College in Vancouver and simultaneously worked to pay for school. Eventually, she found her way to Kelowna in 2018.

Pabla said the money raised will be essential in helping her family with travel and funeral costs as well as potential legal costs as we pursue justice for Harmandeep.

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The death of a 24-year-old woman who was fatally assaulted this weekend has sent shockwaves through the community.

It’s also another sign greater mental health supports are needed for Kelowna, according to a city councillor.

Harmandeep Kaur was working the night shift as a security guard at UBCO on Saturday when she was assaulted by someone working on campus. Kaur was sent to hospital with life threatening injuries and Kelowna RCMP announced Monday she had succumbed to those injuries. Her attacker was apprehended under the Mental Health Act.

“We are absolutely devastated,” Coun. Mohini Singh said of the Indo-Canadian community. “Right now, I’m thinking about her mom. They are going to be grief stricken when they come. They are going to need all of the support there is.”

It is understood Kaur had recently acquired residency in Canada and was a student at Okanagan College.

She said the entire community needs to do all it can to help the family through the grieving process and know they are not alone.

The attack is also indicative of the major deficit in Kelowna’s mental health support infrastructure, she said. Singh said the province needs to “step up” and provide greater care.

“We need a lot more help. This is not a municipal responsibility; this is a provincial responsibility,” she added.

To begin with, Singh said the RCMP needs more money to fund more workers to respond alongside officers to calls with a mental health component.

During a presentation to city lawmakers Monday, Kelowna RCMP Supt. Kara Triance said three of the last four murders in the Central Okanagan had mental health components.

“That needs to be addressed right away,” she said, adding greater resources dedicated to getting people through the system are also needed.

“We need to have people who are hands on, who can take the individual right to the finish line.”

In a statement Monday, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Principal, Lesley Cormack said, “there will be plenty of opportunity to try to understand the circumstances of this tragedy over the coming weeks, but our immediate priority is to support the family and individuals affected.”

He said security members “are deeply valued members of our campus community. They work tirelessly every day to keep our students, faculty, and staff safe and to be a welcoming, friendly, and reassuring face when help is needed.”

Speaking to Kelowna10 Monday, Paladin Security’s President, Chad Kalyk said the attack “was random, senseless and unprovoked.”

“We have no idea why it happened,” he said. “We have as many questions as answers at this time and that’s why we’re just trying to do everything we can to support the family, and then make sure we offer employee care and support to each one of our team members,”

RCMP Cpl. Tammy Lobb has said officers are working closely with their partners at UBCO and the investigation remains ongoing.