Raj Singh, a Sikh musician who was part of a Sikh kirtan group, was tragically shot dead outside a gurdwara in Selma, Alabama last Saturday, February 24th. Raj Singh, known by his stage name Goldy, hailed from the village of Tanda Sahuwala in Indias Uttar Pradesh state. For the past year and a half, he had been touring the United States with his musical group as a ragi, or musician. Goldy was standing outside the gurdwara when he was suddenly shot in the abdomen by unknown assailants. His grieving family back home in India received the devastating news of his murder the following day on Sunday. We were informed about the incident by relatives. It has been five days, and his postmortem is yet to be done. We have reached out to the gurdwara committee for more information, and they are helping us. We have also appealed to our government for justice and the arrest of the killers, said Goldys brother-in-law Gurdeep Singh.Goldys family believes his killing could potentially be a hate crime, although the precise motive behind Singhs murder remains unclear at this time. According to local Selma news outlet _GVWire_, the Selma police have said there is currently no indication of racial motivation evident in Raj Singhs slaying, as stated by Sergeant Caleb Garcia. This marks the second murder of an Indian-origin person in Alabama this month alone. Just weeks prior, Pravin Raojibhai Patel, a 76-year-old American hotelier of Indian descent, was fatally shot after an altercation with a man seeking a room at his Alabama motel. Additionally, a student from Kerala, Neil Kumar, was murdered at point-blank range in a botched robbery attempt. Goldy was the sole provider for his family, including his mother, two sisters, and younger brother, after the passing of his father. His loved ones have urgently appealed to the Indian government to assist in bringing Goldys body home for proper cremation. The grief-stricken family is desperately seeking justice and closure after this senseless tragedy.
