After her son, 16-year-old Ronan Kanda, was fatally stabbed with a 20-inch “ninja” sword in a case of mistaken identity, his mother, Pooja, is determined to combat the menace of knife crime by utilizing school parents’ evenings. The tragic incident occurred as Ronan was walking back home from a friend’s place in June 2022 when two fellow students, Prabjeet Veadhesa and Sukhman Shergill, mistakenly targeted him, thinking he was a rival they intended to harm. Veadhesa used the deadly weapon to fatally injure Ronan in Wolverhampton.
Following the incident, where the lethal sword was acquired using Pooja’s ID from the Post Office shortly before the attack, both Veadhesa and Shergill were sentenced to life imprisonment in 2023, with minimum terms of 18 and 16 years, respectively.
Pooja, aged 49, has since committed herself to fighting youth knife crime and the online trade of dangerous weapons. Legislation known as Ronan’s Law, named after her late son, has been enacted to prohibit the sale, production, or import of ninja swords in the UK. Recently, Pooja was honored with an OBE for her relentless anti-knife crime campaign.
Together with her daughter, Nikita, Pooja actively engages with schools and organizations to educate young individuals on the perils of carrying knives. Their new initiative aims to reach out directly to parents during school parents’ evenings to prevent children from being drawn into criminal activities.
In an exclusive interview, Pooja emphasized the significance of parental involvement in guiding children towards positive values, highlighting the crucial role parents play in nurturing the younger generation. She underlined the need for parents to instill morals and values in their children to prevent tragic outcomes like what happened to Ronan.
Pooja expressed her ongoing grief and anguish over losing her son, lamenting the void his absence has left in her life. Despite the unbearable pain, she remains steadfast in her mission to raise awareness and support measures to prevent similar tragedies in the future.
Pooja firmly stated her refusal to engage in restorative justice with Ronan’s assailants, citing her closure from the courtroom proceedings and her unwavering stance against forgiving the perpetrators. She continues to advocate for legislative changes to enhance knife control measures and prevent such senseless acts of violence from recurring. Proposed amendments to the Crime and Policing Bill are progressing through the House of Lords, aiming to enforce ID checks on knives at collection points. Additionally, a government-led consultation is underway to establish a licensing system for knife sellers and importers, incorporating age verification protocols and secure packaging standards.
