A British Sikh man was sentenced to life imprisonment on Monday and must serve at least 21 years after being convicted of killing a student in a case that sparked backlash when police handcuffed the victim as he lay dying following allegations of racial abuse in the UK.Vickrum Digwa, aged 23, stabed 18-year-old Henry Nowak using a 21 cm blade that he said he carried as part of his Sikh faith. (Hampshire Police/X via @tanishabramwell)Vickrum Digwa, aged 23, stabbed 18-year-old Henry Nowak using a 21 cm blade. The incident occurred in England’s Southampton on December 3, when the teenager was walking home alone after spending the evening with friends.On Friday, a jury found Digwa guilty of murdering the accountancy and finance student in the incident.What happened?The accused stabbed Nowak with a blade that he claimed he carried as part of Sikh faith while the victim was walking home alone.The teenager, who hailed from Essex, was handcuffed by officers while injured at the scene after Digwa falsely claimed he had been racially abused and acted in self-defence, BBC reported. He also told police that his turban had been knocked off and that he had suffered injuries.Video from officers' body cameras, released by Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary, showed the moments after police arrived and spoke to Digwa and others present.The footage shows Nowak lying on the ground. He can be heard repeatedly saying, "I've been stabbed" and "I can't breathe".Disclaimer: This video contains distressing scenes.Officers are seen moving him onto his side before placing his hands behind his back in handcuffs. Within minutes, the teenager stops responding.One officer then tells him he is under arrest for assault. Police later requested an ambulance to examine Nowak.Judge William Mousley of the Southampton Crown Court said the killing was carried out using a large knife kept in a sheath attached to a belt worn outside Digwa's clothing. He was also carrying a kirpan, a small ceremonial dagger associated with Sikhism.The judge said Nowak asked Digwa whether he was a “bad man”. This may have been because the teenager noticed what Mousley described as a “large Sikh dagger”, The Guardian reported.Mousley said Digwa may have felt he was being insulted, but said, “I am sure Henry said nothing racist.”The police later apologised for handcuffing the victim and announced on Friday that it had referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) for review.UK Prime Minister Starmer had also condemned the "awful, shocking case" in a post on X. He added that it was "right that the IOPC is investigating the police's response to (Nowak's) senseless murder".‘You have brought shame upon your religion’Addressing concerns raised during the case about the kirpan, the judge referred to the Sikh belief that such an item should "never be carried for an offensive purpose"."You have brought shame upon your family and your religion," the judge said, as per the court records."Your actions have stirred up racial tension in Southampton and across the country, which has made many Sikhs worried about their safety," he said.The court was told that Digwa had a large dagger attached to his belt, while a kirpan carried by Sikhs is usually "generally a small knife hidden from view".During the trial, Digwa claimed that Nowak had racially threatened him. That claim led Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary officers to initially treat the teenager as a suspect when they arrived at the scene.Following the guilty verdict delivered by the jury last week, several British Sikh organisations urged people not to associate the crime with the kirpan and argued that it was being "unfairly" singled out.Sikh federation on ‘kirpan’ claimsIn a statement issued on Monday, Sikh Federation UK said the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) should have made clear throughout the trial that the weapon used in the killing was not a kirpan."The murder weapon is of Persian origin and known by an entirely different name. It is not a Sikh ceremonial knife, as many like Reform continue to describe," the statement read.The City Sikhs Foundation also spoke against blaming the Sikh community for the actions of a "single criminal individual"."The kirpan is a symbolic article of faith for Sikhs initiated into the Khalsa tradition. It is a constant reminder to Sikhs of the need to defend the most vulnerable in society, and it has been worn responsibly in Britain for generations," it said.The Crown Prosecution Service denied describing the murder weapon as a kirpan.With inputs from agencies