An Indian teenager was found dead inside the walk-in oven of a Canada Walmart store earlier this month — with many suggesting foul play. Nineteen-year-old Gursimran Kaur had recently moved to Halifax and worked at the store's bakery department with her mother. The shocking incident has also spurred an outpouring of support from the Sikh community in Canada, with some organising a digital fundraiser to help the grieving family.
Halifax Regional Police (HRP) was called to the scene around 9:30 pm on Saturday and found her body inside the walk-in oven. The store has remained closed since the incident and an investigation is underway. A spokeswoman for the labour department in Nova Scotia said a stop-work order has been issued for the bakery and “one piece of equipment” at the Walmart store.
“It is important to note that the investigation has not yet reached a point where the cause and manner of death have been confirmed,” HRP said.
Police constable Martin Cromwell also dubbed the investigation “complex” and said Halifax police were coordinating with the appropriate agencies to help with the investigation.
Kaur was found dead inside the oven by her mother on October 19. She had repeatedly tried to locate her daughter as it was “unusual” for the teen to switch her phone off during the day. Other employees had brushed off her concerns and suggested that Kaur might be busy helping other customers.
According to a report by The Sun, she had eventually opened the oven after someone pointed out the “leakage” spewing from it.
“Imagine the horror that her mother experienced when she opened the oven, when someone pointed it out to her!” reads an excerpt from the fundraiser appeal.
Some suggest that Kaur had been placed inside the oven by another person. A Walmart employee also noted that the oven she used during work turned on from the outside and had a door handle that was "really hard" to open.
“You have to push [the latch] with all your might and pull the handle to the side and lock it in place…There is no way possible somebody could lock themselves in there,” concluded her co-worker Chris Breezie in a recent TikTok video.
She also noted that it would have been an extremely tight fit for the teen and that employees were never actually required to enter the oven physically for any tasks. Breezie also pointed out that there was an emergency latch located inside the oven.
Walk-in ovens, also referred to as cabinet or batch ovens, allow for curing, drying or baking in batches using wheeled racks or carts. They are often found in large-volume bakeries in places such as supermarkets.
(With inputs from agencies)
