Twenty-three-year-old Inderdeep Deo was charged with assisting her younger brother, Harjot Singh Deo, in his alleged bid to escape justice in connection with the 2017 murder of college student Kiran Dhesi. Last week, the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) charged the Deos’ 53-year-old mother Manjit Kaur Deo, who is facing one count of accessory after the fact to murder.
SURREY – Three members of a Surrey Indo-Canadian family have now been charged in connection with the 2017 murder of college student Kiran Dhesi.
And police say they’re not done, calling out for more clues and suggesting more people could be charged in the case.
“So far three members of the same family have been charged criminally,” Cpl. Frank Jang of the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team said. “In spite of the recent charges, the investigation still remains active and is certainly not over.”
Over the weekend, 23-year-old Inderdeep Deo was charged with assisting her younger brother, Harjot Singh Deo, in his alleged bid to escape justice.
And the siblings’ mother Manjit Kaur Deo is also charged with assisting her son “for the purpose of enabling Harjot Singh Deo to escape,” according to court documents.
The offence date is listed as on or around Aug. 1 and 2 of 2017. Dhesi was last seen alive on Aug. 1, 2017, and her body was discovered early the next morning.
IHIT has not spoken to the suspected motive for Dhesi’s killing either.
Harjot was in a relationship with the 19-year-old before her body was discovered in a burning SUV in Surrey almost two years ago.
Police said the young woman, whose full given name was Bhavkiran, was never involved in any kind of drug activity.
Shahnaz Rahman of the Surrey Women’s Centre says she has seen plenty of cases where women will protect their own families, even if the victim was another woman.
“There are repeated cycles of violence. It could come from loyalty to the offender, or could come from a pattern that exists in the family. It’s somehow deemed acceptable,” she said.
Violence against women is an “epidemic” despite efforts to contain it, Rahman said.
“Our reality is that we see calls daily. Our workers have over 100 files. We are seeing women fear for their safety, and they come to us because they know they will be believed,” she said.
Dhesi’s body was found in a burned out vehicle in Surrey in August 2017, devastating the 19-year-old college student’s family and friends.
Police said Kiran Dhesi’s former boyfriend Harjot Singh Deo was known to them, but would not specify why he had previously been on their radar.
When the charge against Deo was announced, the deceased’s uncle, Kulwant Dhesi, told CTV News the family was relieved to learn the case was moving forward, but said the young victim’s parents remain deep in grief.
