Edmonton police have charged a 22-year-old man with second-degree murder in the death of Damanpreet Kaur.
Officers were called to a home in southeast Edmonton's Silverberry neighbourhood at 6:44 p.m. on Thursday, July 9, for an unresponsive woman with suspicious injuries. A man was taken into custody shortly after. Kaur, 23, was treated by EMS and taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries, where she died on Sunday, July 12.
An autopsy completed July 14 determined she was strangled. Police kept that detail back until this week while investigators worked the case.
Ritish Kumar, 22, was arrested Wednesday and charged with second-degree murder. Police are describing Kaur's death as an intimate partner homicide. The allegation against Kumar has not been tested in court.
What police have said, and what they haven't
The EPS homicide section took the case over after Kaur was found. Police have not said what brought officers to the home on July 9, and have released nothing about the relationship between Kaur and Kumar or the circumstances inside the house that night. Those details are expected to come out in court, where Kumar's case now sits. Police say they are not seeking any additional suspects.
Bringing her home
Kaur's family is in India, and the people around her in Canada have organized a fundraiser to return her to them. The GoFundMe, set up by Gurdeep Singh, is raising $20,000 to cover the international transportation, documentation and funeral costs of bringing Damanpreet home for her final farewell, and had raised more than $16,000 from over 300 donors as of Thursday.
The campaign is here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/damanpreet-kaur-ypetc
The photo of Kaur circulating with news coverage comes from that page.
A pattern with a name
There were 100 victims of intimate partner homicide in Canada in 2024, according to Statistics Canada, the highest count in over a decade. Over the past ten years, 963 people have been killed by an intimate partner. Nearly eight in ten were women and girls.
Strangulation holds a specific place in that research. Non-fatal strangulation by a partner is one of the strongest known predictors of future lethal violence, strong enough that it became its own criminal offence in Canada in 2019, and it sits on the confidential risk-screening tools police use in domestic violence files, alongside threats and escalating control. When a strangulation survivor reaches police or a shelter, their file is flagged differently because of what the research says comes next.
The law most Albertans don't know they can use
Alberta has a tool built for the time before violence turns lethal. Under the Disclosure to Protect Against Domestic Violence Act, known as Clare's Law and in force here since 2021, anyone worried about a partner's past can apply to police to learn whether that partner has a documented history of violence. Parents, siblings and close friends can apply on behalf of someone they're worried about, which matters because the person at risk is often the last one willing to ask.
Applications go through alberta.ca, disclosures come with safety planning support, and use of the law has been climbing, Calgary police reported applications rising sharply year over year as awareness spreads. The law is named for Clare Wood, a British woman killed in 2009 by a partner whose violent record she had no way of knowing.
Where to get help
Alberta's Family Violence Info Line runs 24 hours a day at 310-1818, toll-free anywhere in the province, with support in more than 170 languages. The line also takes calls from people worried about someone else. In an emergency, call 911.
Sources:
Edmonton Police Service, Charges laid in homicide of 23-year-old woman, July 23, 2026: https://www.edmontonpolice.ca/News/MediaReleases/ChargeslaidJuly232026
Statistics Canada, Trends in police-reported family violence and intimate partner violence in Canada, 2024: https://www.statcan.gc.ca/o1/en/app/8644-trends-police-reported-family-violence-and-intimate-partner-violence-canada-2024
Government of Alberta, Disclosure to Protect Against Domestic Violence Act (Clare's Law)
GoFundMe, Damanpreet Kaur: https://www.gofundme.com/f/damanpreet-kaur-ypetc
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