Maple Batalia gunned down at SFU: Father suspects 'unrequited love' to be cause
B.C. lost another young woman to violence, this time on a university campus. Maple Batalia, a 19-year-old actress, was found at about 1 a.m. with several gunshot wounds near an entrance to the Surrey Central City campus of Simon Fraser University, where she was studying.
Although she was alive at the time she was found, Batalia later died from her injuries.
The suspect has yet to be identified, but the family suspects it was a male schoolmate who had unreciprocated feelings toward her.
"I've lost everything I had,'' said her father, Harkirat Batalia in an interview with the Canadian Press. "We're in a very bad shape, totally, totally upset, and I don't know what is my future after she is gone...She was the most intelligent, sweet soft-spoken person in all our generations.''
Harikat Batalia said that Maple had previously complained about the boy's bahavior and started ignoring him after she began to suspect that he had "dirty money coming in" through illicit activities, according to the Vancouver Sun.
At just over five feet tall, Maple Batalia was not pursuing a career as a runway model, but was a budding actress who had a small role in Diary of a Wimpy Kid.
Former schoolmates of Maple expressed their grief on social media. On Tumblr, a female schoolmate wrote:
Maple Batalia, you are the most stunning and beautiful girl I’ve ever seen. To hear at school today that you have been shot multiple times at 1:30AM at the SFU campus in Surrey, BC was a pain in the heart. You were a 2010 graduate from my school...I remember seeing you around the school grounds, seeing your face. I can’t imagine not wanting to know you. It was too bad that I didn’t get a chance to talk to you but only able to see you.
Maple, you’re so amazing in many ways. Whenever I saw you at school, I can see such a pretty young lady, who is always kind, sweet, beautiful, loving, nice, bright and smart. I’ve seen how dedicated you are into your studies ... Everyone has been so kind and generous of wishing you the best in heaven and to keep shining like a star.
It hurts me to know that we’ve lost another beautiful angel. You are only 19 years old. So young and just the start of finding something new. It’s a shame to realize that an innocent girl has been taken away from us ... I hope whomever did this to you gets what they deserve because you never deserved this tragedy. Justice will be served Maple, I promise.
My condolences and prayers go out to your family and friends.
The family said Maple will be cremated, after which they will hold a prayer service at a Sikh temple.
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RIP Maple Batalia... may you rest in peace! Justice will be served!