n December 3rd last year, 18-year-old Henry Nowak, a first-year student at the University of Southampton, was stabbed four times by his alleged attacker, Vickrum Digwa. As a Sikh, Digwa was permitted to carry a ceremonial kirpan knife. Perhaps this wasn’t butch enough, however, so he decided to complete his arsenal with an 8-inch blade or shastar (a Punjabi word for ‘weapon’ or ‘knife’), just to be on the safe side. The trial at Southampton Crown Court has heard how Digwa “aggressively pursued” his victim, inflicted the fatal wounds, and stood over him as he bled. In Snapchat footage recorded moments before the attack, Nowak taunted Digwa to say he was a bad man. Digwa replied: “I am a bad man.” He did not call for help.
Here’s the problem for Nowak: he was white; his assailant was not. Which means Digwa was perfectly within his rights to play the race card and did so to maximum effect.
