Recitation from Hindu scriptures marked a candle-light vigil for the murdered Indian student Anuj Bidve in Salford, Manchester, on Monday as several hundred people gathered to show solidarity with his family.
Flowers and messages piled up at the spot in Orsdall Lane where Anuj was killed by a white gunman in a suspected racially motivated attack on Boxing Day.
“I’m so ashamed to be from Ordsall… we are not all like the scum that did this,’’ read one message.
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Mark Charleson, another Salford resident, wrote: ``I didn’t know you but because of this sad terrible incident that has shocked us all, we do know you and you will never be forgotten, not at all in Manchester and Salford, may your soul rest in peace and may your family find peace with you looking down up on them, God bless young man sleep tight,’
A friend of Anuj’s, said he as an Indian student he felt scared. Residents of Salford said they were ``disgusted’’ and ``shocked’’ by the senseless murder.
Andrea Simpson said ``Anuj Bidve didn’t deserve to die whilst visiting Salford. It is an area I have worked and lived in for nearly all my life. There are many good people who are shocked and disgusted that this senseless act could happen in their area.’’ People were still streaming in more than an hour after the vigil began.
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Labour MP Keith Vaz was among those who joined the vigil.