Vickrum Digwa, a 23-year-old Sikh man, was found guilty on Thursday of murdering 18-year-old university student Henry Nowak in Southampton on December 3 last year. Digwa stabbed Nowak six times with a ceremonial Sikh blade, then told polcie the teenager had shouted racist abuse, leading officers to handcuff the fatally injured victim as he collapsed and later died. The case has sparked furious debate about policing, racial allegations,and whether Digwa's long-known obsession with weapons was adequately monitored.

The 30-second Gatka clip that predates the murder by 18 months

According to the Daily Mail, a video filmed in May 2023 shows Digwa and his older brother Gurpreet performing a Gatka—a Sikh weapons demonstration—at an event in London. In the 30-second clip, the pair spar with knives and small shields, wearing traditional Sikh clothing and turbans. Digwa can be seen picking up a knife from a floor array and jabbing it into his brother's shield in circular motions.

Sources in the local Sikh community told the Daily Mail that the Digwa brrothers had briefly been Gatka teachers, but the community cut ties with them over unspecified behavioural concerns. the footage now raises the question of whether more should have been done to intervene before Digwa's hobby turned lethal.

How Digwa used a 'wicked lie' to turn police against his dying victim

Digwa's defense at trial relied on claiming that Mr Nowak had racially abused him, punched him, and knocked off his turban. Yet prosecutors established that Digwa did not know his victim and that the accusation was fabricated. As the Daily Mail reported, Digwa told officers that Mr Nowak was the aggressor, and they handcuffed the 18-year-old student, who was bleeding internally from an 8cm-deep chest wound. He collapsed moments later, drowning in his own blood.

Hampshire Police's Deputy Chief Constable Robert France has since apologised to the Nowak family, saying, "I'm sorry that he was handcuffed and arrested." The Independent Office for Police Conduct is investigating the officers' actions, and there are calls for the release of bodycam footage from the arrest.

Community cut ties with Digwa: What did they know, and when?

The Daily Mail reported that Digwa slept in a bedroom he shared with his brother that contained an arsenal of antique Sikh weaponry. He described the murder weapon in loving terms during questioning. Sources in the Sikh community told the newspaper that they had ended their association with the Digwa brothers as Gatka teachers due to concerns about Digwa's behaviour. Yet no formal report appears to have been made to police, nor any intervention triggered .

This silence leaves open a critical question: Did those who knew of Digwa's obsession with knives and erratic conduct have a duty to alert authorities earlier? And would an earlier warning have prevented the fatal encounter on a Southampton street in December? The case illustrates how informal community concerns, without a clear reporting channel, can remain invisible until it is too late.

The broader context of the case is the ongoing UK debate over 'two-tier policing.' Reform UK leader Nigel Farage called it "the most shocking example of two-tier policing I have ever seen," while Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said police "believed his attacker's allegations of racism without critical assessment." Tech billionaire Elon Musk has offered to fund a private prosecution against the force. The incident has fueled accusations that anti-racism training may impair officers' judgment when handling race-related claims. As the Daily Mail noted, MPs reacted with fury after Digwa's conviction, questioning how the killer duped officers into arresting his dying victim.