Shalini Thakur was honored at her funeral in Sacramento on Monday, nearly a week after she was shot and killed outside Panera Bread. The 38-year-old IHOP worker’s death left her family, friends and regular customers facing a case that moved from a daytime killing to a funeral with only two relatives in attendance.
Friends and family gathered for the service six days after the shooting on Tuesday, Sept. 8, when Thakur was killed outside a Panera in Sacramento. Most of her family is home in India, and her mother, Sudesh Kumari, and uncle were the only relatives present.
Monday in Sacramento
Tara Singh of the Guru Nanak Sat Sangat of California called the funeral “It's a very sad moment. A very, very sad moment,” as people came to remember Thakur’s life. Satinder Dulai said, “She was a lady with a vibrant personality. Larger than life, with this glow about her, her aura,” and added, “She had a bubbly personality. She had a lot of goals. And I think one by one, she was completing them. She was a little feisty, but very loving.”
Thakur’s ties reached beyond her family. Melinda Willey said she was a regular IHOP customer and had formed a friendship with Thakur, adding, “I want to honor her heart and her kindness.” That mix of family grief and everyday routine gave the service a narrow, personal frame: this was not only a public tragedy, but the loss of a worker known by the people who saw her often.
Rohit Rohit and the restraining order
Rohit Rohit was identified by the Department of Homeland Security as being in the country illegally, and Thakur had an active civil harassment restraining order against him when she was killed. Deputies said he took his own life after leading them in a chase onto Highway 50 right after he murdered Thakur.
Tara Singh said, “He was an illegal person in this country and she has a restraining order. I don't know how the police department didn't take any action,” putting the focus on whether the order carried enough practical protection before the killing. Singh also said, “Today, Mom is saying, 'Please let me go with her, and I can't be living all my life alone,'” a line that turned the service from remembrance into a record of what Thakur’s death left behind.
The unanswered issue is how the civil harassment restraining order was handled before Sept. 8. The funeral answered who showed up for Thakur; the case still leaves the question of what, if anything, happened after the order was in place and before a woman in Sacramento was killed outside Panera Bread.
