Tamil boy killed in Toronto clash- Police

A clash between two groups resulted in the death of a Tamil youth in east-end Toronto over the weekend, the Canadian police said on Monday adding that the incident was a "senseless occurrence" that never should have happened.

Kristian Thanapalan died of a blunt force injury to his head after he was beaten by a group armed with baseball and cricket bats early Saturday, police said.

Toronto police Det.-Sgt. Savas Kyriacou says the 22-year-old and his friends were swarmed after they finished playing a game of volleyball in a park late at night.

Thanapalan and five other young men had gathered earlier in the evening at an east-end park, where they bumped a volleyball around until sunset.

Wanting to continue the game, the group of friends moved to a lit field at a public school nearby.

Kyriacou said they formed a circle, keeping the volleyball up without nets. "It was just a bunch of friends getting together to spend an evening together."

Another group of 15 to 20 young men were playing baseball or cricket at a nearby baseball field. When the lights went out around 11 p.m., both games ended.

The two groups went to a parking lot, where Thanapalan and his friends continued playing volleyball and the others entered vehicles.

"During that time, we believe there was an exchange of words," Kyriacou said.

Police don't know what was said, but the vehicles left and returned a number of times to circle a nearby cul de sac.

As Thanapalan and his friends left the parking lot around 12:15 a.m., a group of about eight males approached them, Kyriacou said.

A second group of 10 to 15 others came from the cul de sac, along a path between the school and an apartment building. They carried baseball bats, cricket bats and beer bottles, among other weapons, Kyriacou said.

Thanapalan and his friends were surrounded but some of them managed to escape. Emergency crews later found Thanapalan beaten, lying on the cul de sac. He was taken to Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, where he died.

Some of Thanapalan's friends had minor injuries.

"Take a bit of testosterone, some bravado, throw in a bit of alcohol and sometimes you get that result," Kyriacou said, though police have not confirmed the motive for the attack.

Kyriacou says police are appealing to members of the Tamil-Canadian community to "do the right thing" and urged anyone with information to come forward.

"Kristian was a nice young man," Kyriacou said. "He had everything to live for. He has a nice loving family."

"This type of senseless occurrence should never have happened."

Kyriacou appealed to a member of the attacking group in particular, a man in his mid-20s who tried to intervene and stop the attack. "We are asking you to come forward and speak to us."

Police haven't determined how or to what extent each person in the attacking groups was involved. They ranged in age from 16 to 25.

David Poopalapillai of the Canadian Tamil Congress said such violence is particularly difficult for the Tamil community because of political unrest in their homeland of Sri Lanka.

"On top of that, this is one of the safest countries on the planet and now it's happening here."

A father of two young children himself, Poopalapillai said his heart goes out to the family of the victim but also the parents of the attackers, who will suffer too.

Thanapalan's family is tending to his 73-year-old grandmother, Poopalapillai said. She had been ill and was about to be released from hospital, but when she heard the news her condition worsened.

Thanapalan lived with his parents and sister northwest of Toronto in Maple. He graduated from a biotechnology program at Centennial College and had been accepted to study biochemistry at York University this fall.

Police don't believe the attack was premeditated.

(Canadian Press)