The teenage girl who "baked to death" in a walk-in oven at Walmart, only to be found by her own mother has been pictured for the first time. Gursimran Kaur, 19, was working at the Walmart store in Halifax, Nova Scotia, alongside her mother on Saturday evening when this horrific incident occurred.
A GoFundMe campaign set up to raise funds for the young woman mentioned that Gursimran's mother would regularly check on her daughter during their shifts together. However, that day she grew concerned after not seeing her daughter in the store for a long time and began looking for her. The helpless mother didn't imagine what was awaiting her.
Grim Discovery
The mother ultimately discovered her daughter's "charred remains" inside the bakery oven after another employee noticed "leakage" coming from that area. A family spokesperson has since said that Gursimran's relatives are devastated by her untimely death.
As mentioned in the community appeal, Gursimran's "charred remains were found inside the walk-in oven in the bakery after a few hours." "Imagine the horror that her mother experienced who herself opened the oven, when someone pointed out to the 'leakage' from it."
Gursimran's phone was "unreachable," prompting her mother to panic, as it was "unusual for her to switch her phone off during the day."
"Gursimran's mother tried to locate her after not seeing for one hour," the Maritime Sikh Society Executive said in the appeal, which has already raised $46,000. She asked around, but everyone brushed aside thinking that she may be somewhere helping a customer."
Gursimran is being remembered as a "beautiful girl who came to Canada with great aspirations." She and her mother moved to Nova Scotia less than three years ago.
Her father and brother remain in India, and the community is urgently working to raise funds to bring them to Canada. "This family's sufferings are unimaginable and indescribable. They need your support to get through this horrific time," the appeal read.
Family and Community Devastated
Harjit Seyan, president of Canada's Maritime Sikh Society, told Global News that his community has been providing support to Gursimran's devastated family since her death on October 19. "The immediate family is absolutely shocked," Seyan said.
"They are in a kind of a trauma. We are really sorry to hear of such a tragic event."
This comes as Canada's national broadcaster, CBC News, which reported, citing sources, who said that the appliance at the Halifax store "did not lock."
This revelation raises unsettling new questions regarding the circumstances of her death, especially considering earlier reports of a 911 call suggesting that the woman was trapped in the oven.
Since the tragedy, mourners have been flocking to the superstore, leaving flowers and paying their respects to the victim and her family.
The young woman had only come to Canada within the last three years and had developed strong connections with the Maritime Sikh Society.
"It's pretty distressing given young people come here with hopes and dreams," board member Satnam Singh Randhawa previously said. "They're working hard and this is what happens."
The oven was industrial-sized and spacious enough for a person to enter. Police told the publication that the Gursimran was working on the day of the incident.
The Nova Scotia Department of Labour has issued a "stop work order" for both the bakery and one piece of equipment at Walmart, although they have not disclosed which specific equipment is affected by the order.
Balbir Singh, secretary of the Maritime Sikh Society, stated that the victim's mother is also in Canada and is receiving "psychological counseling."
