London: Two young men have been convicted of murdering a 16-year-old Sikh boy in west London. They mistakenly mistook the boy to belong to a rival gang in west London. Vanushan Balakrishnan and Ilyas Suleiman, 18, both residents of Hillingdon, were convicted of killing Rishmeet Singh after a trial at Old Bailey.
Rishmeet, who came to the UK with his mother and grandmother in October 2019 to seek asylum from Afghanistan, was accidentally targeted and stabbed to death 15 times.
“I have lost my husband and now I have lost my only son. Finally, justice has been done for Rishmeet but the punishment given to the culprits will always be less to me. They have taken away my whole life from me and Rishmeet will never come home again, ” her mother said.
The court noted that on the night of November 24, 2021, Rishmeet was on his way home when he saw two unidentified men running towards him. He tried to save his life but failed. One of his pursuers stabbed him in the back at least five times and the other stabbed him at least 10 times and fled.
Interrogation revealed that Balakrishnan and Suleiman threw their bike near the bridge and followed Rishmeet on foot. Balakrishnan first attacked him. They were caught on CCTV fleeing from the spot.