On June 17, a woman in her 20s traveling to her job as a caregiver was sitting on an idling bus in the city’s west end when she was attacked by another passenger. “The male then allegedly poured some type of liquid substance or an accelerant on this woman and then lit that substance on fire, causing the female victim to burn,” Constable Alex Lee of the Toronto police told reporters. As the assailant fled the scene, employees and passengers rushed to the woman’s aid, quickly extinguishing the fire. He was treated by the fire department and taken to the hospital in critical condition with second and third degree burns. Police at the time called her injuries “life-changing.” The town’s mayor, John Tory, called the attack a “shocking act of crime” and said residents were praying for her recovery. Police arrested Tenzin Norbu, 33, and charged him with attempted murder and assault with a weapon, common nuisance endangering the lives and safety of the public and mischief over C$5,000 for trespassing on property. Police described the attack as an “isolated incident” and “random”, but after consultation with the hate crime unit, said “the investigation is being treated as a suspected hate crime”. In early July, the victim’s sister started a crowdfunding page. She wrote that her sister suffered “full-thickness burns, is in critical condition and is on life support.” “My sister is a caregiver who has lived a life of service to others,” her sister Dawa wrote. “At this point, we really need the support of all of you in her long journey ahead.” On July 5, police said the woman, who cannot be identified due to a publication ban, had succumbed to her injuries and the case had been turned over to homicide. The brazen attack is the latest in a series of disturbing incidents on the city’s transport system. In mid-April, a woman was pushed onto the tracks while a train was approaching. He was able to take shelter under the edge of the subway platform, but suffered a fractured rib. A week before, Kartik Vasudev, a 21-year-old international student, was shot and killed outside a subway train while on his way to his part-time job. Also in April, a 30-year-old man was stabbed in the neck while waiting on a subway platform. The police described the incident as an “unprovoked attack”. In response to the spate of violent attacks, as well as an increase in assaults and robberies, the city’s transit commission increased the number of patrols at transit stations.
