Calls for tougher action against those linked to convicted killer Vickrum Digwa intensified after MP Rupert Lowe said “Any Indian who covered up for Vickrum Digwa must be immediately deported”, as debate continues over the murder of Southampton student Henry Nowak and the use of bladed weapons carried under religious exemptions.Lowe is the MP for Great Yarmouth and leader of Restore Britain. Hemade the remarks on X following the conviction of Digwa, a 23-year-old Sikh man who has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 21 years for murdering 18-year-old university student Henry Nowak in Southampton.The politician also called for kirpans to be banned in the UK, calling it “Un-British religious practices.”Digwa was convicted of fatally stabbing Nowak on December 3 after the teenager had been walking home alone following a night out with friends. Digwa used a 21cm blade he claimed to carry as part of his Sikh faith.Judge William Mousley KC rejected Digwa’s claims that he had acted in self-defence after being racially abused. Sentencing him, the judge said Digwa had brought “shame” upon both his family and his religion.“You were sober but were carrying a large Sikh dagger,” Mousley told the defendant.Nowak was a first-year student at the University of Southampton from Chafford Hundred, Essex. He was stabbed five times, including wounds to his face, legs and a fatal injury to the chest. Prosecutors said Digwa had a “weapons obsession”.Neighbours heard Nowak saying he had been stabbed and was dying. He attempted to flee by climbing over a fence, leaving a trail of blood behind him.The case drew national attention after police bodycam footage showed officers initially treating Nowak as a suspect. Despite repeatedly saying “I’ve been stabbed” and “I can’t breathe”, he was handcuffed and arrested for assault after Digwa falsely claimed he had been attacked.Police later apologised, saying officers had been misled by information provided at the scene and had faced an “extremely complex” situation.Henry’s father Mark Nowak described the events as “unbearable”.He said: “Henry did not die with dignity. He did not die with the care he deserved. He lost consciousness before anyone believed him.”Meanwhile, debate has continued over the weapon used in the attack. The Sikh Federation said the blade used by Digwa was not a religious knife known as a kirpan and accused authorities of failing to make that distinction clear. However, the Crown Prosecution Service said Digwa had chosen to carry two ceremonial knives and that the judge accepted its assessment that the weapon was a kirpan which Digwa chose to use.Digwa was also convicted of carrying a knife in public. His mother, r53-year-old Kiran Kaur was found guilty of assisting an offender after attempting to hide the murder weapon. She is due to be sentenced on July 17.
