OttawaThe family of an Indian international student who died in Ottawa in late April is frustrated with how police have handled the investigation and how few details they’ve shared.Vanshika Saini was a 21-year-old Algonquin College student from IndiaVanshika Saini, 21, was an international student about to graduate from Algonquin College with a degree in health administration when she was found dead in Ottawa in late April. Her family in northern India says they’ve received conflicting information from police about the circumstances of her death. (Submitted by Raman Deepkaur)The family of an Indian international student who died in Ottawa late last month is frustrated with how police have handled the investigation and how few details they’ve shared.Vanshika Saini was a 21-year-old student about to graduate from Algonquin College with a degree in health administration, according to her cousin Raman Deepkaur, who spoke to CBC on Sunday. Saini’s family in northern India learned she was missing on April 26. On April 28, the Ottawa Police Service (OPS) told them she had been found dead, Deepkaur said. Police told CBC on April 29 that the body of a woman in her 20s had been found two days earlier at Dick Bell Park and that her death was under investigation. But Deepkaur said the family had been given inconsistent answers about the circumstances of Saini’s death, with OPS saying at different times that she’d been found at Britannia Beach, at Dick Bell Park and even that she’d been pulled directly from the water.In addition to when and where her body was found, the family wants other answers, Deepkaur said, like why Saini left her apartment that night and what happened next. “We are living like hell over here, and we don’t know anything,” she said. “No one here is eating properly, no one is sleeping properly. … We just want answers about what had happened to her — why and when and how.”Rasna Arora organized Sunday’s vigil for Saini and said her body would soon be repatriated to India. (Isabel Harder/CBC)’There was no alert’On Sunday, a small group gathered at Dick Bell Park to both mourn Saini and echo the family’s call for more answers.”There was no alert. Nobody was told to look for this young girl,” said Rasna Arora, who organized the gathering and has been in contact with Saini’s family.Despite the silence, Arora said news of Saini’s death had made headlines in India.”There are people [in those articles] saying, ‘We told you, don’t send your child to Canada, don’t send them to Ottawa, our children are not safe,'” Arora said.”That’s not true, but that is the perception that’s going to stay there unless we come up and say, ‘No, we do care about people who come here.'”Saini’s body is expected to be repatriated to India by Wednesday, Arora added.Saini was a ‘very decent and brilliant student,’ who was ‘always very happy, very excited for everything,’ according to her cousin. (Submitted by Raman Deepkaur)Handled with urgency, say policeOPS issued a statement Sunday morning acknowledging the community’s concerns about “how this case was handled.” “Each case receives careful consideration, and this one was no exception,” it said. “We can assure the community that it was approached with professionalism, urgency, and a deep sense of responsibility from the outset.”CBC asked OPS for an update on the investigation and why so many conflicting details were given to the family. A spokesperson said no update was likely to come Sunday but that someone might be available for an interview Monday.Bay ward Coun. Theresa Kavanagh, who represents the area where Saini’s body was found, said police had told her that they suspect the death was foul play and don’t believe there’s any risk to public safety.”It’s more complicated because she’s from another country,” Kavanagh told CBC. “It’s very difficult to get details about what happened.”In the meantime, Saini’s family is mourning her from afar.”I don’t have any words [to describe] how the current situation is here,” Deepkaur said. “You can just imagine a family who had a lot of dreams for their daughter.”ABOUT THE AUTHORGabrielle is an Ottawa-based journalist with eclectic interests. She’s spoken to video game developers, city councillors, neuroscientists and small business owners alike. Reach out to her for any reason at gabrielle.huston@cbc.ca.Follow Gabrielle on BlueskyFollow Gabrielle on InstagramWith files from Radio-Canada’s Charlotte Tremblay
Family of dead student ‘living like hell,’ wants more answers from police
