International student Sahil Kumar found dead 10 days after disappearance in Toronto
A 22-year-old Hamilton student who was reported missing nearly a month ago was found dead in Toronto, according to police.
Sahil Kumar was last seen on the afternoon of May 16 near Yonge and Dundas streets in downtown Toronto. A recent arrival from India, Kumar had moved to Hamilton in April and was set to begin a web design program at Humber College earlier this spring.
In a news release, Toronto police said Kumar's body was found on May 26 — 10 days after he went missing. While the investigation remains open, police said the case "does not appear to be a criminal matter." A spokesperson told CBC that no further information would be released.
Kumar's family, however, says the circumstances surrounding his death raise far more questions than answers.
"He was happy. He had no problems. He called home every day and told us he was enjoying his course," said Akshay Yadav, Kumar's uncle in India, in an interview translated from Hindi. "He told us: 'Next time I want to bring grandma with me. It feels good here.'"
According to the family, Kumar spoke to his parents, brother, and grandmother on the day he went missing. "That was May 16, in the afternoon. After that, his phone was off," Yadav told CBC Hamilton.
His roommates initially thought he may have returned home and gone to sleep. But when they realized he hadn't, they began calling and eventually filed a police report. It was issued on May 20.
"It felt like the ground had slipped from under our feet," said Yadav. "We had just spoken to him."
On May 27, they received a message confirming Kumar had been found dead in the water. His body was identified by the family overseas during a video call with police.
"We were shocked. It was impossible to believe. Sahil even knew how to swim," Yadav said. "We kept asking, 'Why would he go to the beach? What happened?' But we've gotten no clear answers."
Toronto police have not commented on the location where Kumar's body was found or the specific circumstances surrounding his death. The family says communication largely stopped after the body was recovered.
Based in a small village in India, without the financial means or many Canadians connections, the family says they feel powerless to push for a more thorough investigation or to look privately into the circumstances.
"It feels like an injustice was done to us," said Yadav. "We're not wealthy, we don't have the means to fight this."
Yadav said the family has begun to reach out to other families of international students from India who also went missing recently. They were alarmed to read about one case in Ottawa, where a college student died in April under some similar circumstances, he said.
They also connected with the family of Vedatman Poduval, a York University student who was reported missing on June 2 by Toronto police and found four days later, on June 6. While police have only said he was found, the family told CBC News he had died. Yadav said the conversation between the two families underscored the similarities between the cases — young international students, all found in water under unclear circumstances. "When this happens again and again, it should raise questions," Yadav said.
CBC has asked both Toronto and Ottawa police whether they are investigating any potential patterns across the cases or are coordinating on the cases but did not hear back before publication.
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