The Sikh community in Halifax, Canada is rallying around the family of Gursimran Kaur, a 19-year-old Walmart employee who was found dead in the store’s walk-in bakery oven on Saturday.
Community leaders who knew the family said Kaur and her mother had immigrated to Canada from India about two years ago, and both women had worked together at that Walmart location.
Kaur’s mother, who found the body, is traumatized, lawyers say.
“The first day I saw her was the day the incident happened. She was really desperate. She was really in a lot of pain,” Satnam Randhawa, board member of the Halifax Maritime Sikh Society, told NBC News.
Local authorities say the investigation into Kaur’s death is ongoing and the cause and manner of death have not yet been determined.
“The community is shocked by the entire incident,” Harjit Seyan, president of the Sikh Society, told Canadian broadcaster Global News. “We are really angry.”
This past week, the Sikh Society organized a community-wide show of support. A GoFundMe started on behalf of the family has raised nearly $80,000 Canadian dollars.
The fundraiser detailed the series of events that led to Kaur’s body being discovered in the oven, and said her mother became concerned after not seeing her in the store for an hour. She tried to ask where she was and called her phone, before eventually coming across the gruesome scene.
Kaur and her mother both regularly visited the Sikh Society’s gurdwara, the worship center, Randhawa said. Now the members are trying to fly out Kaur’s father and her 10-year-old brother, who are still in India.
“Of course the immediate family is absolutely shocked. They are in some kind of trauma,” Seyan said.
The Walmart where the death occurred is closed until further notice.
“We are heartbroken and our deepest thoughts are with our partner and their family. Our focus remains on taking care of our employees and ensuring they have the support they need,” a company spokesperson told NBC News. “As police have stated, this is a very complex case and the investigation is ongoing.”
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com