{{Short description|Canadian influencer and activist (1981–2026)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=September 2023}} {{Use Canadian English|date=March 2026}} {{Infobox person | name = Nancy Grewal | image = | alt = | caption = | birth_name = Nancy Grewal | birth_date = {{birth date|1981|1|19}} | birth_place = India<ref name="cbc1">{{cite news|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/windsor-lasalle-homicide-9.7116485|title=Social media account touting Khalistani extremism claims responsibility for death of Windsor, Ont., woman|publisher=CBC|date=March 9, 2026}}</ref> | death_date = {{death date and age|2026|3|3|1981|1|19}} | death_place = LaSalle, Ontario, Canada | death_cause = Stabbing | citizenship = | occupation = Influencer, activist | organization = }}
'''Nancy Grewal''' (January 19, 1981 – March 3, 2026) was an Indian-born Canadian activist and influencer. Grewal had worked professionally as a musician in India, then as a personal support worker after moving to Canada in 2018 and settling in Windsor, Ontario.<ref name="cbc1"/><ref name="cbc3">{{cite news|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/nancy-grewal-sister-speaks-about-influencer-s-killing-9.7121317|title=Sister of Sikh influencer killed outside LaSalle, Ont., home says she was ‘kind-hearted’|publisher=CBC|date=March 10, 2026}}</ref>
== Activism == Grewal had thousands of followers on YouTube and primarily created content in Punjabi.<ref name="canadaland">{{cite web|url=https://www.canadaland.com/podcast/1328-the-murder-of-nancy-grewal/|title=#1328 The Murder of Nancy Grewal|author1=San Grewal|author2=Jesse Brown|publisher=Canadaland|date=March 11, 2026}}</ref>
She was Sikh and an outspoken opponent of violent extremists within the Khalistan separatist movement,<ref name="cbc2">{{cite news|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/windsor-nancy-grewal-homicide-cbc-interview-9.7118575|title=Slain Windsor woman expressed fears to CBC News days before she died|publisher=CBC|date=March 7, 2026}}</ref> which has substantial support among Sikhs in Canada. She was also critical of NDP leader Jagmeet Singh, and of the Indian government's interference in Canadian politics.<ref name="canadaland"/>
== Murder == On February 25, 2026, she spoke to the CBC about her concerns of "extremism within the Sikh separatist movement",<ref name="cbc2"/> and of numerous death threats that she had received as a result of her activism. Grewal said that she had received 40 death threats,<ref name="cbc2"/><ref name="cbc3"/> and that her home had been attacked by an arsonist in November 2025. Following her death, the Ontario Provincial Police appealed to the public to help identify the arsonist who poured an accelerant on the front porch of Grewal's home in Windsor on November 8, 2025, based on surveillance video of the incident.<ref name="cbc5">{{cite news|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/grewal-porch-arson-9.7129567|title=Police ask for public's help in finding whoever set fire to Nancy Grewal's front porch |publisher=CBC|date=March 15, 2026}}</ref>
On Tuesday March 3, 2026, Grewal was stabbed to death at about 9:30 pm in LaSalle, Ontario, while leaving a home where she was working as a personal support worker.<ref name="cbc2"/><ref name="cbc4">{{cite news|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/homicide-stabbing-lasalle-9.7114008|title=LaSalle police investigate fatal stabbing of woman|publisher=CBC|date=March 4, 2026}}</ref><ref name="ctv">{{cite news|url=https://globalnews.ca/news/11727581/nancy-grewal-murder/|title=Ontario influencer killed outside home, OPP join hunt for murder suspect|author=Aaron D'Andrea|publisher=Global News|date=March 13, 2026}}</ref> According to her sister, Grewal was "stabbed in the back, … and the puncture hit her lungs," and the patient at whose home she had been attending called emergency services.<ref name="cbc7">{{cite news|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/fatal-stabbing-of-windsor-woman-linked-to-unsolved-november-arson-9.7133660|title='We need justice': Sister of slain Windsor woman questions why it took police so long to release video|publisher=CBC|date=March 19, 2026}}</ref>
The CBC reported that social media accounts linked to the Khalistan separatist movement posted claims of responsibility for Grewal's death,<ref name="cbc1"/> while San Grewal and Jesse Brown (both from small, independent media organizations) criticized the CBC's credulity in reporting this, noting their lack of sophisticated understanding of misinformation targeting the Indian diaspora and Canada in particular.<ref name="canadaland"/>
== See also == * Murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar
== References == {{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grewal, Nancy}} Category:1981 births Category:2020s murders in Canada Category:2026 deaths Category:2026 murders in North America Category:21st-century Canadian women singers Category:21st-century Indian women singers Category:Activists from Ontario Category:Activists from Punjab, India Category:Canadian murder victims Category:Canadian people of Punjabi descent Category:Canadian Sikhs Category:Canadian social workers Category:Canadian women activists Category:Canadian YouTubers Category:Critics of Sikhism Category:Deaths by stabbing in Canada Category:Female murder victims in Canada Category:Indian emigrants to Canada Category:Indian people murdered abroad Category:Indian Sikhs Category:Indian social workers Category:Indian women activists Category:Indian YouTubers Category:People from Windsor, Ontario Category:People murdered in Ontario Category:Punjabi Sikhs Category:Punjabi-language singers Category:Singers from Punjab, India Category:Victims of Sikh terrorism