Sikh victim of violent attack dies

Sikh Pensioner Joginder Singh, 80, died in hospital on Nov. 3 three months after suffering a violent attack from Coral Millerchip, 19, on a Coventry shopping street. The postmortem examination conducted on Nov. 4 to establish a cause of death was inconclusive.

Detective Chief Inspector Matt Markham from Coventry CID said:

Following the assault, Mr Singh was re-admitted to hospital and was being treated for a diagnosed condition. At this stage it is unclear if that is directly connected with the assault.”

Millerchip was arrested and charged with malicious wounding - a serious offense with a maximum penalty of five years in jail – for attacking Singh in Coventry City Centre on August 10.

Millerchip repeatedly kicked Singh, who struck back but was pummelled to the ground. She knocked off his turban and spat on him, leaving Singh with a bloodied nose and black eye.

The attack was filmed by a passerby and uploaded to Youtube, provoking outrage. Coventry police chief Supt Andy Nicholson said:

This is a despicable, violent attack on an elderly man”

Singh’s death 10 days ago has brought the case back into the spotlight. Harbinder Singh, adviser to the British Sikh Council UK, said:

We thought that the attack itself was tragic enough, but if he has passed away from injuries sustained in the attack, this escalates the incident enormously,”

Millerchip was due to appear in court later this month, but the trial has been adjourned until early 2014 as the Crown Prosecution Services investigate Joginder Singh’s death.

According to the 2011 England census, there are 420,196 Sikhs living in this country, and some attest that such cases of violent discrimination are not uncommon.

Harbinder Singh said that although this incident was on the serious side of the spectrum, it was not an isolated one. He stated:

"They always happen, but they’re not reported because they’re not sensational enough. There is anecdotal evidence that elderly people are subjected more than others because they’re more vulnerable and they sometimes don’t have a grasp of English.”

Singh called such attacks as the one on Joginder Singh “a terrible blot on the social landscape of Britain”, and he attributed them to a continued backlash against 9/11. He said:

"Sikhs, because of their visibility, are easier targets. Whilst the greatest outpouring was after 9/11, the issue is still current, and whilst it remains current, Sikhs as a minority will stand out.”

The assault against Joginder Singh and his subsequent death force the UK to take a hard look at the “blot” of racial attacks against Sikhs and other minorities, for it is a blot that must not be ignored in order to bring justice and equality to victims of discrimination.

Mallory Moench