Woman wants to return to India after vicious attack by strangers in Osborne Village
A Winnipeg woman is recovering in hospital after being brutally attacked by strangers on her way home from an evening shift.
CBC is only identifying the 23-year-old by her first name as she fears for her safety.
The attack happened on June 22 around midnight. Tanpreet had gotten off of her bus and was walking to her apartment in Osborne Village, just like she has done for the past two years.
"I was almost in front of my apartment across the street, and then I just heard, like, running footsteps.… When I looked … back, they just pushed me and I was on the ground."
She says the two attackers beat her and stabbed her multiple times, in her back, stomach, legs, and left eye. They then took her phone, credit cards and IDs.
Tanpreet said she was knocked unconscious and does not know how long the attack lasted, but when she woke up in the ambulance, she didn't think she would make it.
"I was just thinking, like, I will die. I can't live anymore," she said.
Since then, she's had multiple surgeries, including one to repair the damage to her left eye.
She said the attack has left her traumatized, and she no longer feels safe in Winnipeg. She would like to go back home to India, where most of her family, including her mother and father, live.
A 17-year-old girl has been arrested in connection with the attack, police said in a news release on Wednesday. She's been charged with robbery, aggravated assault and seven counts of failing to comply with a release order.
Bystanders intervened in the assault before the attackers fled, and 911 was called, police said.
Anyone with information or surveillance footage is asked to contact investigators at 204-986-6219 or to send an anonymous tip to Crime Stoppers at 204-786-TIPS or online.
"She doesn't deserve this," Tanpreet's sister-in-law Ramandeep said. "She came here for a better future and not for this."
With Tanpreet's brother visiting family in India, Ramandeep, whom CBC is identifying by only her first name to protect Tanpreet's identity, has become a source of support.
While she is trying to remain strong for Tanpreet, she says the attack has left her shaken.
"I can't sleep like from two days.… When I close my eyes, I can see … how badly she got stabbed," Ramandeep said.
She wants justice for her sister-in-law, and more done to make sure the streets of Winnipeg are safe.
"We need accountability and we need action so no one else has to live through such a horrible situation," she said.
For now, she's doing all she can to help Tanpreet recover, hoping to see her back to her normal self soon, but she expects it will be a long road.
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