The Western University in Ontario, Canada, announced that they have set up two scholarships in honour of their two students Salman Afzaal and his wife Madiha Salman who got murdered along with two other family members last month. The horrific incident on June 6 sparked shock and anger throughout Canada and across the world.
The Madiha Afzal scholarship will be awarded each year to a female student enrolled in a doctoral or master’s programme in the department of civil and environmental engineering. The Salman Afzaal Memorial Scholarship in Physical therapy will be given to a full-time graduate student studying in a doctoral or master’s programme in health and rehabilitation sciences, reported Dawn.
Madiha was close to completing her Ph.D. before being murdered and was awarded a posthumous doctorate in June. However, Salman earned his master’s at the university in 2010.
“We want to remember them as they lived: as a devoted family, as Western scholars and researchers, and as caring and well-loved members of the broader community.”
— Western University (@WesternU) July 16, 2021
Western to honour Madiha Salman and Salman Afzaal through scholarships in their names.https://t.co/GpADNonasO
As per Geo, Alan Shepard, President of Western University, announced that the families of the victims endorsed the scholarships. “We hope these scholarships will help to carry on the incredibly positive legacies they have left at Western.”
The horrifying incident happened when the couple went out for a walk with their daughter, son, and Salman’s mother. Then, 20-year-old Nathaniel Veltman jumped the curb in his vehicle, struck the family, and drove off at high speed. He targeted the family for being Muslims. Veltman is now serving his time for terrorism, first-degree murders, and attempted murder charges.
