Riot erupts in UK’s Southampton after Sikh man Vickrum Digwa jailed for homicide of teenager Henry Nowak; 11 police injured | World Information
Eleven law enforcement officials and a police canine had been injured in a violent far-right protest in Southampton on Tuesday night time, after a rally billed as ‘Justice for Henry Nowak’, the 18-year-old British scholar killed in December by a Nihang Sikh man, Vickrum Digwa, was a full-blown riot addressed by far-right activist Tommy Robinsonwith bricks, bottles and wheelie bins thrown at police defending the killer’s dwelling.
UK Sikh group organisations and the British Sikhs All Occasion Parliamentary Group (APPG) have individually condemned the killing as “the prison act of a person who alone bears the accountability for his actions”, whereas warning that the broader Sikh group of roughly 520,000 British Sikhs, the overwhelming majority of British-Indian origin, has “unacceptably confronted appreciable abuse and hate” within the trial’s aftermath.
Homicide convict Vickrum Digwa (AP photograph)
What occurred in Southampton
The protest started Tuesday with a whole bunch rallying throughout town, marching towards the residence of Vickrum Digwa, 23, who had stabbed Henry Nowak 5 instances with a kirpan in December final yr after falsely telling police that Nowak had racially abused and assaulted him. Digwa was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimal 21-year tariff on Monday at Southampton Crown Courtroom.
The rally escalated into violence as protesters threw bricks, beer cans, bottles and wheelie bins at riot police stationed to forestall the group from reaching Digwa’s dwelling. Residents in Portswood described the night time as “completely petrifying”.
Riot erupts in Southampton between police and protesters as Henry Nowak protest turns ugly. Full video on YT. #henrynowak #Southampton pic.twitter.com/ItfF9XNBIm
— City Photos (@Urban_Pictures) June 3, 2026
Hampshire’s Chief Constable Alexis Boon condemned the riot. “What we, as a society, can’t settle for is the violent scenes we noticed in Southampton final night time,” Boon stated, confirming that 11 officers and a police canine had been injured whereas defending the group and that “makeshift weapons had been used and harmless residents’ houses and automobiles had been broken.” Two arrests have been made, with skilled officers set to stay deployed within the coming days.
Tommy Robinson attends an illustration following the conviction of Vikrum Digwa for the homicide of scholar Henry Nowak in Southampton, Britain, June 2, 2026. (REUTERS)
Tommy Robinson and the ‘Justice for Henry Nowak’ rally
Far-right activist Tommy Robinson was amongst those that addressed the group outdoors Southampton’s central police station throughout the rally. Protesters chanted “Racist police, off our streets” and held indicators studying “Henry’s blood is in your palms”.
Bodycam footage launched by Hampshire Police after Digwa’s Monday conviction confirmed Nowak telling officers he had been stabbed and saying “I can’t breathe,” as police, misled by Digwa’s false declare of getting been racially attacked, handcuffed the dying teenager relatively than treating him as a sufferer.
Police footage reveals the arrest of Henry Nowak after he was stabbed by Vickrum Digwa in Southampton, Britain, on December 3, 2025. (Reuters)
UK Sikh organisations: ‘This was not about faith’
UK Sikh organisations have moved shortly to distance the broader group from Digwa’s actions. The British Sikhs All Occasion Parliamentary Group (APPG), a cross-party physique of MPs working with Sikh group organisations, issued a joint assertion that frames the case as a query of particular person prison accountability, not non secular id.
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“This case was concerning the homicide of Henry Nowak by Vickrum Digwa,” the APPG stated. “It’s not about faith or racism. It was the prison act of a person who alone bears the accountability for his actions.”
UK Sikh group teams individually known as the killing “a second of insanity by a person for which there could be no excuses.” However additionally they warned that the “wider Sikh group has unacceptably confronted appreciable abuse and hate throughout the trial as many don’t perceive the regulation, the importance of the kirpan or the accountability related to carrying a kirpan.”
The group teams additionally famous that “the weapon which will have been used was not the traditional kirpan worn by totally practising Sikhs.”
The kirpan and Sikh non secular apply
The kirpan is without doubt one of the 5 Ks of Sikhism — the 5 articles of religion carried by initiated Sikhs — alongside kesh (uncut hair, maintained underneath a turban), kara (a metal bracelet), kanga (a small wood comb), and kachera (cotton shorts). The phrase kirpan derives from kirpa (grace) and aan (defence), and Sikh custom describes the blade as a logo of dignity, justice and the obligation to guard the weak relatively than as a weapon for aggression.
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Beneath UK regulation, kirpans are authorized for non secular, ceremonial, sporting or historic use, following a 2019 modification to the Offensive Weapons Invoice that the Indian authorities and the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) had welcomed.
In sentencing Digwa on Monday, Choose William Mousley acknowledged that the killer belonged to the Nihang order of Sikhsa martial Sikh custom related to the historic defence of the religion, who “have a practice of getting a second knife that’s typically totally seen.” However Mousley confused, “It’s a non secular and, consequently, authorized requirement {that a} kirpan ought to solely be used offensively as a final resort, which would come with its use in authorized self-defence.”
The prosecution instructed the jury at Southampton Crown Courtroom that whereas Digwa was carrying a small kirpan underneath his clothes round his neck, which met his non secular obligation, he additionally selected to hold a a lot bigger blade that the choose described as “a big Sikh dagger”.
The Nowak household’s enchantment towards division
Henry Nowak, a finance scholar on the College of Southampton, was attacked on Belmont Street on December 3, 2025, as he walked dwelling alone after an evening out with pals. 5 stab wounds proved deadly.
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Nowak’s father, Mark, in a press release issued after Monday’s conviction, condemned the “inhumane and degrading” police remedy of his dying son however explicitly urged the general public to not let his son’s loss of life gasoline additional hatred or division, saying he wished Henry’s story to make British streets safer for everybody.
(Written by Nityanjali Bulsu, who’s an intern with The Indian Categorical)
