A disturbing incident in Peterborough, Ontario, has sparked outrage after a video surfaced showing a group of young Canadian men racially abusing an Indian couple in a mall parking lot. The incident occurred on July 29th at the Lansdowne Place Mall. The couple, still visibly shaken, shared multiple clips of the confrontation on Facebook.
In the video, the young men in a pickup truck are seen blocking the couple's car, shouting profanities and racial slurs. When the Indian man attempted to record their license plate, one of the men threatened, "Do you want me to get out of the car and fing kill you?". The verbal abuse escalated to include mocking gestures and obscene acts. One of the men even exited the truck and performed a lewd act against the couple's car. The victim stated that the group damaged his vehicle, but was met with further taunts such as, "Hey big nose, you know it's not illegal to go in front of your vehicle and h you. Did I touch you? Did I touch you, yes or no? Answer my question, you fing Indian". One of the Canadian teens repeatedly yelled, "Stupid N***". The videos went viral, drawing widespread condemnation and calls for accountability.
The Peterborough Police Service launched an investigation on August 8 after reviewing the viral clips, which contained "hate-based language". An 18-year-old man from Kawartha Lakes was arrested in connection with the incident. He has been charged with uttering threats to cause death or bodily harm and is scheduled to appear in court on September 16. While no specific hate crime charge applies, police noted that the case has a hate-related element. The accused has been released on an undertaking.
Police Chief Stuart Betts stated, "That kind of behaviour is not acceptable in our community, or in any community". He also thanked everyone who came forward with information and encouraged residents to continue reporting hate bias incidents/crimes.
The victim expressed that he and his partner are still traumatized and are posting the video to ensure that such an incident does not happen to anyone else and to seek justice. Many have described the behavior as extremely shameful and cruel.
