Send this page to someone via email Peel Regional Police say a 41-year-old man arrested in connection with the death of his 11-year-old daughter, who was the subject of an Amber Alert, has been charged with first-degree murder. “We are proceeding with a first-degree murder charge. It’s gone to court for the information and it will be laid,” Const. Danny Marttini told reporters earlier during a news conference Friday afternoon. Police said the girl, identified as Riya Rajkumar, was out with her father for her birthday on Thursday and was supposed to be dropped off with her mother at a predetermined time. Police said Rajkumar’s mother contacted police at around 7 p.m. due to a concern about her daughter’s safety and a parental abduction investigation was launched. Story continues below advertisement “That information was actually given to the mother. She received that information from him, which obviously set off her alarms, extreme concern, which was why she attended the division,” Marttini said during a news conference Friday morning. “When she attended 22 Division, she came with the information that she had received from him that he may cause harm.” At around 10:30 p.m., police put out an update on social media with a description of Rajkumar and her father as well as a vehicle being driven by the suspect. Police Investigating Parental Abduction – https://t.co/b8QbSQ4iFH — Peel Regional Police (@PeelPoliceMedia) February 15, 2019 Const. Akhil Mooken said early Friday that officers gathered information needed for Ontario Provincial Police to issue an Amber Alert, which went out shortly after 11:30 p.m. Officials asked for anyone who spotted the vehicle to contact 911. Mooken said a member of the public spotted the vehicle and called police. Ontario Provincial Police officers in the central part of the province arrested the man and took him to the service’s Orillia detachment. Shortly after the alert went out, Mooken said Rajkumar was found dead inside a home at Hansen Road North and Crawford Drive. The property is owned by the accused. Story continues below advertisement The Amber Alert was cancelled at around 12:20 a.m. on Friday with officials saying the child was located. It’s unclear how Rajkumar died. Mooken said the circumstances surrounding Rajkumar’s death are particularly difficult. “As one can expect in a tragic situation like this where your daughter goes to spend her birthday, and especially on Valentine’s Day with the father, and you expect your child to come home… my heart aches for the family,” he said. “As a parent, I can’t even begin to imagine what the mom is going through.” Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "As a parent, I can't even begin to imagine what the mom is going through." Family members of the father and daughter spoke with reporters outside the home Friday afternoon and called the whole situation “shocking.” Nancy Ali, the aunt of the accused, said it is a “painful” time for the whole family. Her son, the suspect’s cousin, said Riya was always “full of positive energy.” “She had smiles where she went,” he said. Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "She had smiles where she went," he said. The man taken into custody by police was identified as 41-year-old Roopesh Rajkumar. On Friday afternoon he was charged with first-degree murder. As Roopesh was taken into custody, police said they noticed the suspect was injured. He was subsequently transported to a local hospital and then to a trauma centre for treatment. The nature of his injuries were not disclosed. The accused will appear in court when he is medically cleared. Story continues below advertisement “There was a medical issue and there was concern for that and he was taken to hospital. He will be in police custody throughout that time,” Marttini said. Court records obtained by Global News showed Roopesh was charged with assault causing bodily harm and threatening death in 2004, assault and mischief under $5,000 in 2008, and assault in 2015. In all three cases, the charges were withdrawn. He entered into a peace bond after two of those incidents. It’s unclear who the alleged victims of these alleged assaults were. It’s unclear who the alleged victims of these alleged assaults were. Roopesh Rajkumar will appear in court on the charge of First Degree Murder in relation to his daughter, Riya Rajkumar, when he is medically cleared, according to @PeelPoliceMedia — Catherine McDonald (@cmcdonaldglobal) February 15, 2019 Police said as of Friday, investigators were still in the process of collecting evidence inside the home where the girl was located. “We are looking at an active scene inside the residence. So our forensics will have to go in there, process it,” Marttini said. Story continues below advertisement “They’ll be taking photographs, they’ll be taking pieces of evidence — everything they need to ensure that we get all the information about what occurred in that residence.” Story continues below advertisement Meanwhile, police said 911 operators were busy fielding complaints early Friday from people who received the Amber Alert. “We appreciate and understand that some members of the public may have been affected by the noise and the tones that are provided by the Amber alert,” Mooken said. “But we certainly hope they understand that the Amber Alert program is designed for us to locate children that may have been abducted whether by parent or some other person. We essentially hope they understand the slight inconvenience this might have caused them.” A crowdfunding initiative was started by Neighborhood Watch Brampton to cover Riya’s funeral costs. The initial goal was set at $2,500, but it was reached within a few hours. As of 9 p.m. on Friday, more than $6,000 was collected. The group said it would continue to accept donations. — With files from Catherine McDonald, Jeremy Cohn and Jessica Patton Please help cover costs for the funeral of 11 year old Riya who was found dead in #Brampton last night. Police have arrested a suspect. You can donate here: https://t.co/GAHOklAwLU #brampoli pic.twitter.com/b6PDcAlpmy — Neighbourhood Watch BRAMPTON (@NWBrampton) February 15, 2019<doc-sep>Chris Fox And Chris Herhalt, CP24.com The father of an 11-year-old girl who was found dead inside a Brampton home following the issuance of an Amber Alert on Thursday night was charged with first-degree murder while receiving treatment at a GTA-area hospital, police said Friday. Police began an investigation into the abduction of Riya Rajkumar at around 7 p.m. after being contacted by her mother. The girl was supposed to be celebrating her birthday with her father Roopesh Rajkumar, police said, but was not returned to the custody of her mother by the agreed upon time. Police say Roopesh Rajkumar, 41, had made comments to the child’s mother indicating that he planned to do harm to himself and his daughter, which prompted her to contact police. “She received information which obviously set off her alarms which is why she attended the division,” Const. Danny Marttini told reporters on Friday morning. “She (the mother) came in already fully concerned saying ‘This is what he is saying to me, I am concerned for the wellbeing of my daughter and I need some help. Obviously our investigators took action right away.” Marttini said that investigators asked Ontario Provincial Police to issue an Amber Alert after their initial attempts at locating the girl proved unsuccessful. That alert was issued at around 11:30 p.m., but approximately 30 minutes earlier, Riya Rajkumar had been found dead in a basement apartment at a residence in the Queen Street and Highway 410 area of Brampton, where the suspect resided. “At some point (police) received enough information that they felt that that 11-year-old girl could in fact be in the residence and was in need of assistance,” Marttini said. Roopesh Rajkumar was arrested in a high-risk takedown shortly after 12 a.m., after a motorist saw his vehicle on Highway 11 near Orillia and called 911. He was held overnight at the Orillia detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police but was transferred into the custody of Peel Regional Police early Friday morning. Marttini said that once Peel officers took custody of Roopesh Rajkumar, they “noticed a medical concern – about his wellbeing,” and brought him to a local hospital for treatment. He was later transferred to another hospital equipped with a trauma centre for further treatment where he remained on Friday afternoon. In the meantime, a document was submitted to Brampton Superior Court to charge Roopesh Rajkumar with first-degree murder. Later on Friday afternoon, police told CTV News Toronto Roopesh Rajkumar was formally charged over the phone while in hospital. Marttini said that forensic investigators are combing for evidence at the apartment where the body of the child was located. A coroner attended the scene where Riya Rajkumar’s body was found and an autopsy is pending. “We are looking at an active scene inside the residence so our forensics have to go in there and process it. They will be taking photographs, they will be collecting pieces of evidence, everything we need to make sure we have all the information about what occurred in that residence,” she said. Questions raised about entering father’s home Marttini said it is standard practice to attend places such as the home of a parent when a missing person is reported, and officers went to the home a short time into their investigation. But after officers knocked on Roopesh Rajkumar’s door and heard no response, there was little more they could do without further information. “If nobody answers, that’s as far as we can go,” Marttini said, saying police need exigent circumstances above and beyond a general fear for a minor’s safety before forcing their way in to a home. “If they felt that the circumstances were there they would have proceeded.” Victim was Grade 5 student at Mississauga school Riya Rajkumar was enrolled in Grade 5 at Meadowvale Village Public School in Mississauga. In a message sent to parents on Friday, the principal, Stacy Service, said that Rajkumar was a “well-liked student” whose death is “deeply felt by everyone at the school.” Service said that counsellors with the Peel District School Board's Critical Incident Response Team are at the school today and will remain there as long as they are needed. She said that a memorial table has also been set up in the school’s library so that staff and students can leave messages of remembrance and condolence. “Even students who did not personally know Riya will also be affected by this tragedy,” she wrote in the letter. According to Peel District School Board spokesperson Carla Pereira, students and staff are remembering Riya Rajkumar for her “boisterous laugh” and the “fun loving spirit that she had in her classroom and outside the walls of her classroom.” Pereira said that the mood inside the school is “pretty somber” today. “She was an academically successful student, a well-liked student, a popular student so certainly that is something that is being talked about today in conversations with grief counsellors,” she told CP24. Brampton Mayor Patrick said City of Brampton flags will be lowered to half-mast in honour of the Riya. "My thoughts are with the Rajkumar family and friends. I know our community will provide support to this family," Brown said in a statement released Friday evening. Other politicians, including Mayor John Tory, Premier Doug Ford, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, also issued statements Friday offering condolences to the young girl's family. A vigil is expected to be held for Riya in Brampton on Tuesday night, a spokesperson from Brown's office confirmed.<doc-sep>The father of an 11-year-old girl found dead at her dad’s home is to be charged with first-degree murder. Peel police issued an Amber Alert after 11 p.m. Thursday, several hours after 41-year-old Roopesh Rajkumar failed to return his daughter, Riya, to her mother. Riya was allegedly abducted by her dad after he took her out for her birthday Thursday afternoon. Her father was arrested shortly after the discovery of her body, at around midnight on Thursday, and is expected to be formally charged Friday. Police revealed in a Friday afternoon update that Rajkumar has been hospitalized, in police custody, since his arrest. The father made threats to harm his daughter and himself to his former girlfriend, Peel police spokesperson Danny Marttini told reporters Friday morning. The girl’s mother alerted police at around 7 p.m. on Thursday, triggering an investigation to locate the two before the Amber Alert was issued. "She came in already fully concerned saying, 'This is what he's saying to me, I'm concerned for the well-being of my daughter, I need some help,"' Marttini said. "Obviously our investigators took action right away." The Grade 5 student did not live with her father on a full-time basis, police said, but was dropped off at a gas station in Mississauga, Ont., at about 3 p.m. so he and the girl could celebrate her birthday. Riya shared a joint birthday with her devastated mother, Marttini revealed. “It’s very heart-wrenching and that’s what we have to remember,” Marttini said. “This is a family and she is now moving forward without her daughter and it’s very traumatic.” Investigators located the girl’s body in her father’s Brampton, Ont. duplex about midnight. Her father was arrested by Ontario Provincial Police in what has been described as a “high-risk takedown” shortly after in Orillia, Ont., about 130 kilometres north. Rajkumar is currently in hospital and will appear in court once he is medically cleared, police said. “When we did take custody of the individual… our officers at that time did notice that there was a medical concern,” Marttini explained. “They were concerned about his wellbeing. At that point, that individual was taken to hospital.” Tips from citizens responding to the alert led to his arrest, say police. Peel police confirmed that Riya was found dead at the scene. Officers did not initially enter Rajkumar’s Brampton home when they saw that his vehicle was not there. Reporters raised questions about why it took so long to issue the Amber Alert. Marttini said there will be a review. Meanwhile, forensics teams are combing the Brampton home for evidence. “This is very hard for everyone that’s been involved in the case and the family that are having to deal with this,” Marttini said. Speaking to CTV Toronto, one of Rajkumar’s relatives said that nothing about the accused suggested that he could be violent. “He was always a cousin to look up to,” Ryan Ali said. “We just never expected this to happen.” CONDOLENCES POUR IN At Riya’s elementary school -- Meadowvale Village Public School in Mississauga -- flags stood at half-mast on Friday and grief counsellors were called in to talk to students. In front of the Brampton home where the little girl’s lifeless body was found, mourners brought flowers and stuffed animals. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Amber Alerts were critical in police investigations when a child’s life is in danger. “Amber Alerts like the one so many of us received last night are critically important to helping police when a child’s life is on the line,” he wrote. “My deepest condolences to everyone mourning young Riya today.” Ontario Premier Doug Ford tweeted that he was hearbroken for Riya’s mom who is living “every parent’s worst nightmare.” “As a father to four daughters, I’m truly at a loss for words,” he wrote. “Karla and I are keeping Riya’s family and community at Meadowvale Village Public School in our prayers.” Mississauga mayor Bonnie Crombie said Riya’s “senseless” death made her “sick to her stomach”. “There are no absolutely words to explain the senseless and tragic loss of young innocent Riya,” she wrote. “As a mother of three, this makes me sick to my stomach. My heart grieves for the mother and family. May the apprehended suspect see the full weight of the justice system brought before him.” With files from The Canadian Press Amber Alerts like the one so many of us received last night are critically important to helping police when a child’s life is on the line. My deepest condolences to everyone mourning young Riya today. — Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) February 15, 2019<doc-sep>The girl's father has been charged with first-degree murder, police said. (Representational Image) The father of an 11-year-old Canadian girl, who was found dead at his home late on Thursday after going missing while celebrating her birthday, has been charged with murder, police said on Friday. Riya Rajkumar was found dead at her father's home in Brampton, a Toronto suburb, hours after a public alert for her whereabouts was issued, police said. Her father Roopesh Rajkumar, 41, was taken into custody on Friday, and has been charged with first-degree murder, they said. Constable Danny Marttini said Riya's mother contacted the police when Riya failed to return to her on Thursday evening and after she received information from Roopesh Rajkumar that triggered concern about the well-being of her daughter.<doc-sep>
A father who was supposed to be helping his 11-year-old daughter celebrate her birthday has now been charged with first-degree murder in her death. Roopesh Rajkumar is currently in police custody in a trauma centre being treated for an undisclosed medical condition. Const. Danny Marttini said the suspect was taken to a hospital after his arrest shortly after midnight, and was later transferred to a trauma unit. The body of Riya Rajkumar was found at a home on Hansen Road North, near Queen Street and Kennedy Road, in Brampton shortly after an Amber Alert was issued following her disappearance. The girl’s mother had gone to police after Rajkumar allegedly failed to return the girl on time after taking her out for her birthday. “It’s very heart-wrenching,” Marttini said, noting that both mother and daughter shared a birthday. “We have to remember that this is a family, and she’s now moving forward without her daughter. It’s very traumatic.” Riya was a student at Meadowvale Village Public School, which is located on Old Derry Road near Meadowvale Road in Mississauga. “Our hearts go out to Riya’s friends and loved ones,” the school said in a letter to parents that was posted on its website on Friday. “Riya was a well-liked student, and her death is deeply felt by everyone at the school.” “This tragedy has brought tremendous sadness to the students and staff at Meadowvale Village Public School. Members of the Peel District School Board’s Critical Incident Response Team have been at the school today to provide support to Riya’s friends and classmates, as well as other students and staff. The counsellors will remain here as long as they are needed.” The body of Riya Rajkumar, 11, was found at a home in Brampton on Feb. 14, 2019. HANDOUT/Facebook The 11-year-old girl did not live with her father on a full-time basis, police said. She was dropped off at a gas station near Hurontario Street and Derry Road in Mississauga around 3 p.m. Thursday so he could take her out for her birthday. When he failed to return the child to her mother at 6:30 p.m. she notified police. Marttini said the mother came into 22 division around 7 p.m. and told officers that she received concerning comments from Roopesh about harming himself and his daughter. The Amber Alert was issued at 11 p.m. Peel police said Riya was found dead around midnight, and her father was arrested by provincial police a short time later while driving on Highway 11 in Oro-Medonte. “My heart aches for this family, and as a parent, I can’t even begin to imagine what the mom is going through,” Peel police Const. Akhil Mooken said. “As one can expect in a tragic situation like this where your daughter goes to spend her birthday, and especially on Valentine’s Day, with the father, you expect your child to come home.” Peel police’s homicide and missing persons unit have taken over the investigation. From 7 p.m. until when the Amber Alert was issued, police said they were searching for the father and daughter. But when the pair was not found, investigators notified OPP and an Amber Alert was issued. Police found Riya’s body at 11:30 p.m. and then her father was arrested in a high-risk takedown with the OPP, which Peel police would not elaborate further. Marttini said the father, who was the mother’s ex-boyfriend, was staying in a section of the home in Brampton. However, police have not said how the home is connected to Roopesh and his family. As police continue to investigate the murder, they also expressed frustration with people who called 911 to complain about the late hour the alert was sent. But police said it was thanks to someone receiving the alert that they were able to find the suspect and his vehicle in Orillia. the child outweighed the momentary inconvenience that some people encountered. Tragically this incident did not have the outcome we were all hoping for but the suspect was located as a direct result of a citizen receiving the alert and calling 9-1-1. The system works. 2/2 — Cst. Akhil Mooken (@OfficerMooken) February 15, 2019 Related stories: 9-1-1 fielded complaints over Amber Alert despite tragic ending OPINON:People who whined about the Amber Alert are horrible people