The man who pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the death of Surrey teen Bhavkiran Dhesi has been sentenced to seven years in prison.
Harjot Singh Deo, Dhesi’s boyfriend, was sentenced in B.C. Supreme Court on Tuesday (Oct. 18).
Deo pleaded guilty on Feb. 15 to manslaughter with a firearm and offering indignity to a dead human body or human remains.
Dhesi, 19, was found dead on Aug. 2, 2017, inside a torched SUV abandoned in the 18700-block of 24 Avenue.
The BC Prosecution Service confirms that Deo was sentenced to seven years in prison for the manslaughter of Dhesi and for “improperly interfering or offering an indignity to her remains.”
The court ordered that he serve five years for the manslaughter, plus a consecutive two year sentence for the interference charge.
The BCPS has also confirmed the sentence will be reduced by 239 days, however, reflecting time Deo already spent in custody.
SEE ALSO: Boyfriend of victim Bhavkiran Dhesi pleads guilty to manslaughter
Deo was arrested in May 2019 at Vancouver airport on a charge of second degree murder, which was set aside following his guilty plea.
According to a press conference held at that time, the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team were aware early on that Dhesi had died elsewhere before being left in the burning SUV.
The victim had undergone a kidney transplant only six months before her death.
Dhesi’s sister Anjali said she had “wanted to live more than anything else in this world,” during a news conference held December 2018 to appeal for help locating those responsible.
Deo’s brother Gurvinder Singh Deo, and his cousin, Talwinder Khun Khun, had also been charged with indecently interfering with or offering an indignity to human remains,’ as well as ‘accessory after the fact to murder’ in connection with Dhesi’s death.
Both were acquitted in February, after a judge found the Crown had not proved beyond a reasonable doubt that their actions demonstrated they were aware of the crime and had attempted to cover it up.
Charges of ‘accessory after the fact to murder’ against the Deos’ mother Manjit Kaur Deo and sister Inderdeep Kaur Deo, had previously been dropped in May 2021.
Manjit Deo – who had spent 29 days in custody following her arrest in May 2019 – was instead given a conditional discharge, while the charge against Inderdeep Deo was stayed.
SEE ALSO: Murder-accessory charges dropped against mother, daughter in 2017 killing of Surrey teen
alex.browne@peacearchnews.com
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