Indo-Canadian Man Sentenced To 14 Years For Starting Fire That Killed His Young Son And Mother-In-Law

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Surjit Singh Dosanjh was found guilty earlier this year of two counts of manslaughter in connection to a 2015 fire at a Richmond complex.

 

RICHMOND – An Indo-Canadian man from Richmond has been sentenced to 14 years in prison for starting a fire that killed his son and mother-in-law.

 

Surjit Singh Dosanjh was found guilty earlier this year of two counts of manslaughter in connection to a 2015 fire at a Richmond complex, reported Richmond News.

 

On April 13, 2015, Richmond RCMP were called to a fire at a home on Cornerbrook Crescent, near Williams Road and Railway Avenue.

 

A woman and a boy – whose names are protected by a publication ban – were found inside. Both died of their injuries.

 

Dosanjh, who is now 40, was arrested and charged shortly afterwards.

 

He was sentenced in the fall, but the reasons behind B.C. Supreme Court Justice Peter Voith’s judgment were only made public on Christmas Eve.

 

The deaths, said Voith, were at the end of weeks of “threatening” and “intimidating” behaviour towards the victims and their family.

 

According to reports, neighbours at the address in south Richmond called 911 after Dosanjh lit the fire in the master bedroom of the fourplex in the middle of the night.

 

His mother-in-law and teenage son were sleeping on bunk beds in a room they shared. They both died of carbon monoxide poisoning, despite firefighters’ efforts to revive them.

 

Dosanjh pleaded not guilty to both counts when his trial began in January.

 

In his reasoning, Voith said Dosanjh was clearly “angry” after a long-term relationship with a woman — who can’t be identified due to a publication ban — ended.

 

“His comments and behaviours when interacting with both (the woman) and others were erratic, irrational, and threatening,” said Voith.