A Vancouver Provincial Court judge said Arvin Pasha’s May 2022 assault on the women left them “terrorized and traumatized.”
The man, who pleaded guilty in the May 2022 knife attack on two sisters at his Vancouver west side Airbnb, has been handed a 22-month conditional sentence in Vancouver Provincial Court.
Arvin Pasha pleaded guilty to assault with a weapon and assault causing bodily harm and was sentenced May 1 by Justice Harbans Dhillon.
The judge said the incident was an “unprovoked, brutal, violent knife attack.”
“They were utterly unprepared for the violence that ensued,” Dhillon said.
The women, then aged 25 and 23, had agreed to rent the space for a visit to Vancouver.
Their names are covered by a publication ban.
They did not know until they arrived that Pasha would also be in the suite.
Dhillon said it was in the early morning hours that Pasha was pacing around while holding a 12-inch knife.
Soon, he began banging on the living room window, awakening the sisters.
They ran, getting into the hallway, banging on doors as they tried to get out as one called 911.
Dhillon said Pasha entered the hallway with the knife and began swinging at one of the sisters. He stabbed her multiple times
“’What are you doing? You’re killing me,’” Dhillon said one sister said.
She collapsed and Pasha turned his focus to the other woman shielding herself with a door.
He stabbed her multiple times as well.
The judge said the pair were “terrorized and traumatized," that the attack presented a “real risk to life and limb.”
Police soon arrived, approaching Pasha with guns drawn at the residence near Third Avenue and Arbutus Street.
Advanced life support emergency units were brought, and the women were soon taken to hospital.
The judge said the attacks have left the women disfigured, in pain, fearful and unable to work. She said they experience symptoms of PTSD, anxiety and depression.
Dhillon said Pasha’s use of marijuana and other drugs contributed to him being in psychosis at the time.
She said he believed the women were harming his pet.
She said it had also led to another incident where his mother was left in fear. A sharpened axe was later found in the residence.
Dhillon said drug use contributed to Pasha’s breakdown.
Still, she said, he has been working on improving his mental health and has remained abstinent from psychoactive drugs.
She said he is now aware of the connection between cannabis use and his mental health.
“That reduces his moral culpability,” she said. “He has taken steps to gain insight.”
Pasha must obey a curfew for the first 12 months of the conditional sentence. He also received 18 months’ probation.
