The family of Nancy Grewal — a Sikh social media influencer who was fatally stabbed outside a LaSalle, Ont., home — is remembering her as a kind-hearted and jovial woman. 

Grewal, 45, was killed March 3 outside the Todd Lane home, where she was working as a personal support worker (PSW).

“Every time she used to tell me, ‘I buy something for my client, my patient, I buy this from my personal savings,’” Grewal’s sister, Alishaa Grewal, said from Mumbai last weekend during an interview with CBC News.

“She’s a very kind-hearted girl … She was so funny, so jolly. In every situation, she [would] laugh.”

Alishaa said she and her sister used to talk often by video call and Nancy was more like her mother than a sibling.

Alishaa said Nancy was a professional singer before moving to Canada in 2019 and eventually becoming a PSW. She said it was Nancy’s dream to start a health-care business to hire more PSWs.

Nancy, who was a critic of Khalistan extremism, had received death and assault threats on social media, according to Alishaa. 

Less than a week before her death, Nancy spoke to CBC about threats she said she was facing. 

“I know sometimes I feel scared when they said ‘[we’ll] kill you’ then I said, ‘OK, you can kill me any time,’” she said in the interview.

What is Khalistan?

The Khalistani movement in general calls for a Sikh homeland separate from India that independence activists have long demanded. Not all separatists support violence. However, extremist factions of the movement have been involved in violent incidents.

LaSalle police say her death was a targeted killing. They continue their investigation and haven’t commented on a possible motive. 

An Ontario Provincial Police canine unit helped early in the investigation; the RCMP said it hasn’t been called in to help.

WATCH | What is Khalistan?:

What is Khalistan? A look at the movement for an independent Sikh state

Some Sikhs have historically been seeking an independent Sikh homeland in northern India called Khalistan. Experts say the history of the movement is complex, emotional and evolving.

In the interview, Grewal told CBC the week before she was killed that a man started a fire on the front deck of her Windsor home in November.

“I don’t feel safe here,” she said. “The guys attack on my house.”

Home security camera shows hooded man

Video from a home security camera Nancy shared with CBC showed a man in a hooded sweater approaching the front deck of her home and dumping liquid from a gas can before lighting it on fire. The flames quickly spread down the length of the deck. Nancy said those flames died quickly in part because of wet weather and the paint on the deck. 

Nancy also said she received death threats that she reported to Windsor police. The Windsor Police Service on Thursday referred all questions to LaSalle police and did not respond to a request for comment Friday. 

CBC tried to confirm reports of an arson attack and threats with Windsor police multiple times before Grewal’s death, but did not receive a response.

Alishaa said she and her mother used to regularly check Nancy’s home cameras. 

Their mother, Shinderpal Kaur, spoke to the media in India, expressing grief and outrage over her daughter’s death. She said Nancy tried to run back to her client’s house but she couldn’t enter because the door was locked.

“Then she ran towards the back, which was like a forest area, and these two guys caught her,” Kaur said.

“They stabbed her 18 times. They tore her entire stomach open and her organs could be seen.” 

Nancy’s family said they’re trying to get emergency visas to travel to Canada.