Overview
- Jurors at Southampton Crown Court heard opening statements Thursday, as prosecutors said 23-year-old Vikrum Digwa fatally stabbed 18-year-old Henry Nowak with a large shastar knife on Belmont Road in Portswood.
- Police handcuffed the wounded student after Digwa alleged racial abuse, and Nowak later collapsed and was pronounced dead at 12:37 am despite first aid and a doctor flown in by helicopter.
- Phone footage recorded by Nowak captured an exchange in which Digwa said "I am a bad man," and officers later found Nowak’s phone in Digwa’s pocket, prosecutors told the court.
- Forensic tests linked Nowak’s blood and fatty tissue to the 21cm blade, identified hairs from Digwa, and found Kiran Kaur’s DNA on the sheath, as prosecutors alleged Kaur removed the knife to the family home.
- The defense asserts self‑defence and religious reasons for carrying blades, while prosecutors say a small kirpan can meet Sikh practice but not the larger shastar, and the trial continues.