For Tarn Taran family, dreamland turns nightmare

Tears trickled down the face of Sukhwinder Singh Shinda, a farmer from Dhunda village near Goindwal Sahib in Tarn Taran district, as he spoke of his 21-year-old granddaughter Harsimran Ranadhawa who met a tragic end in Canada.

"We thought she would lead a happy life in a country governed by the rule of law, of which people talk as their dreamland," he said, his voice choked with grief.

Instead, she was killed by a stray bullet while waiting for a bus," he said, breaking down.

Shinda, a former sarpanch, had sent Harsimran to Canada, hoping she would escape drugs and violence plaguing their hometown. "We thought Canada would be a place where our children could live without fear and prosper," he said.

"But it seems that's not the case," he added. The family is shattered and the incident has sent shockwaves throughout the community. Harsimran's brother, Jai Singh Randhawa, had dreams of joining his sister, but now his family is hesitant to let him go.

A student of Class XII, Jai would have soon joined her sister if the tragedy had not befallen their family.