The haunting bodycam video, released by the police, shows victim Henry Nowak lying on the ground, gasping for breath, repeatedly saying, “I’ve been stabbed. I can’t breathe,” but the perpetrator Vickrum Digwa’s cold response of just four words has sparked outrage… 👇👇

The British home secretary told Parliament on Tuesday that she fully supported the country’s police watchdog in investigating why several officers handcuffed a college student while he lay dying, in a murder case that shocked the country.

Henry Nowak, 18, was stabbed by Vickrum Digwa, 23, in December 2025, after the two men had a brief interaction in Southampton, a city in southern England. Mr. Digwa, who is Sikh and stabbed Mr. Nowak with a religious knife he was carrying, was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison, with a minimum term of 21 years, on Monday.

Mr. Digwa lied to the police at the scene of the murder repeatedly, falsely claiming that he had been the victim of a racist attack. Police officers arrested and handcuffed Mr. Nowak for about a minute, according to the judge who sentenced Mr. Digwa, before they realized he was severely injured and began administering first aid.

Police body camera footage released on Monday after the sentencing showed Mr. Nowak lying on the ground, saying “I can’t breathe” and telling officers repeatedly that he had been stabbed. One police officer can be heard saying, “I don’t think you have, mate.”

The Independent Office for Police Conduct, which examines reports of police wrongdoing, confirmed it is investigating the police officers’ actions.

The case has been increasingly politicized online, with the right-wing populist lawmaker Nigel Farage claiming the police’s initial response was evidence of “anti-white prejudice.” He encouraged his social media followers on Tuesday to “respond with pure cold rage.” Elon Musk has posted multiple times in recent weeks about the case.

Shabana Mahmood, the home secretary, whose office oversees law enforcement, told Parliament that the murder was a “vile and violent crime” and said that Mr. Nowak’s family deserved answers “about what happened on that awful night and the actions of the police officers who arrived on the scene.” She described the body camera footage as “disturbing and tragic.”

But she also warned that “misinformation and inflammatory commentary is making a dreadful situation worse.” After one police officer unrelated to the case had been misidentified online, she said, he had received death threats and had to be relocated for his safety.