Murder case involving kirpan sparks anger in U.K.

3 JUNE 2026

Sentencing in a Southampton murder case involving a kirpan (a ceremonial dagger associated with Sikhism) and the release of video footage of the police response sparked debates online and in the U.K. Parliament around policing and knife crime and the politicisation of a brutal murder.
Vickrum Digwa, 23, was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 21 years for killing 18 year old Henry Nowak in Southampton on December 3, 2025.
Mr. Nowak was unarmed and stabbed multiple times by Digwa with the latter’s 21 cm long kirpan.
Digwa then lied to the police that Nowak, who was alone and unarmed, used racial slurs against him.
Disturbing police bodycam footage showed a dying Nowak repeatedly telling police officers that he could not breathe and that he had been stabbed. Yet, Nowak was propped up, handcuffed and informed by the police that he was being arrested for assault.
Several Sikh MPs strongly condemned the murder in the House of Commons warning against scapegoating specific communities and politicising the murder along religious fault lines.
“There have been calls to limit the right of Sikhs to carry their ceremonial knife, the kirpan, one of the five holy items in their faith,” Ms. Mahmood told Parliament.