Watch: Kashmiri-Pandit Couple in US 'Assaulted, Robbed,' Their Family Heirlooms Stolen

A couple of Indian heritage fell victim to a nighttime robbery by a group of thieves in the US state of California. The incident occurred last week in Fullerton, a city in Orange County, in an incident that appeared to be a “calculated organised crime.”

“On December 22nd at 7:48PM in Fullerton, CA my father Dr. Vijay Wali was assaulted and my mother Dr. Wali Jyotika’s purse was stolen containing jewellry and ancestral hierlooms after they returned from the jewellry store in Cerritos. This is calculated organised crime, robbery and assault,” the couple’s daughter Priyanka Wali wrote on social media, along with surveillance footage of thieves tailing her parents in a white Tesla.

On the night of December 22nd, the suspects pursued the Kashmiri-Pandit couple in a black Honda Odyssey and another white vehicle to their home in Fullerton. The thieves swiftly fled after grabbing Wali Jyotika’s purse, containing valuable jewellery and ancestral heirlooms, and physically assaulting Vijay Wali.

“New footage has been obtained and my parents were FOLLOWED for over 16 miles by a Black Honda Odyssey with tinted windows from the jewelry store in Little India Artesia/Cerritos to Fullerton where robbery and assault was committed in their driveway. There were at least two cars present and multiple people involved in this Southern California organized crime,” said Priyanka, who described herself as a Kashmiri-Pandit American on social media platform X.

She pointed out that the perpetrators were heard speaking in Spanish. “The person who assaulted my father was speaking Spanish saying ‘quitaselo, quitaselo’ which roughly means “take it from her, take it from her” in referring to my mother’s purse,” she said. LA’s local news channel KTLA 5 reported that the stolen items’ worth is yet to be determined. The Fullerton Police Department is investigating the incident, withholding suspect descriptions, the report added.