Murder of Reena Virk

Reena Virk (March 10, 1983 – November 14, 1997) was a resident of Saanich, British Columbia, Canada. Her status as a bullying and murder victim attracted substantial media attention in Canada.

Virk was first swarmed by eight teenagers (seven girls and one boy). The names of six of the girls involved in the first beating, known collectively as "the Shoreline Six," have not all been released. Following the first beating the boy, Warren Glowatski, and Kelly Ellard murdered Virk. Glowatski was given a life sentence after being convicted of second-degree murder. Ellard was tried three times. The verdict of her third trial, a conviction, was set aside. The verdict was appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada which ruled not to hold a fourth trial in an 8-1 decision, upholding the conviction and sentence.

The Globe and Mail commented at the time that her case had been "elevated into a national tragedy." Canadian sociologists have described the case as a watershed moment for a "moral panic" over girl violence by the Canadian public in the late 1990s.

Reena Virk

Virk came from a large extended family who had emigrated from India. An article in Saturday Night described her immediate family as "a minority within a minority," as they were of the Jehovah's Witness religion in the local......
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