SURREY: Harjot Singh Deo, former boyfriend of BhavkiranDhesi the Surrey teenager whose body was found inside a burning SUV, has pleaded guilty to manslaughter and for interference with human remains.
Deo entered a guilty plea on Tuesday, Feb. 15 in B.C. Supreme Court for manslaughter with a firearm and offering indignity to a dead human body or human remains. The matter has been adjourned to Feb. 23 to fix a date for sentencing.
Dhesi’s body was found in a burned-out vehicle in Surrey, B.C. — about three hours after she was last seen leaving her family’s home in 2017.
The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team and Surrey RCMP found Dhesi’s body just after midnight after responding to reports of a vehicle on fire in the 18700 block of 24th Avenue.
“From the evidence recovered so far, Miss Dhesi’s homicide was not random,” police said in a press release.
Dhesi, who was also known as Kiran, was a student at Kwantlen University. She spent the last few years dealing with health issues and had recently undergone a kidney transplant, Cpl. Meghan Foster said at a news conference. “She persevered through all of that and to have this happen is overwhelming for her family.”
The 21yr-old Harjot Deo was arrested and charged with 2nd degree murder in Dhesi’s death, IHIT informed the public in 2019.
Harjot Singh Deo’s lawyer told the B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver that his client was with Dhesi and in possession of a loaded, prohibited and restricted handgun that went off, accidentally causing her death.
Four members of Deo’s family — including his mother, brother and sister — were also charged with accessory after the fact to murder.
