29-year-old Jibin Benoy from India was killed Sunday morning while crossing town after a shift in central London, Ont.  diner.
“Jibin has been with us since the last 10 months, so it’s really heartbreaking to lose him,” says Sonu Stephen, one of his many roommates in their Highbury Avenue home.  “He will always remain a brother to us.”
Benoy had the Canadian equivalent of an engineering degree from India.
In October 2021, he got married and came to Canada to enroll in Fanshawe College, while financially supporting his family back home.

Jibin Benoy was married in October 2021 and was an exchange student from India at Fanshawe College. Benoy was killed while cycling home from work on Hamilton Road on September 18, 2022 in London Ont. (Source: Facebook)
“He was working very hard,” adds Stephen. “He has always helped nature and never says no.” Sunday morning after working his usual late night shift at Kluck. On King Street, he rode his bike home and was struck and killed on Hamilton Road around 4:40 a.m. The driver fled the scene. “Most foreign students don’t have adequate transportation at night,” says Ibraheem Halbouni, Benoy’s boss at Kluck. This described the relationship of all his employees as “family”. Halbouni adds, “They don’t have a car or a motorcycle, so they usually walk or ride their bikes. They start closing at 3:00 and that night specifically at 04:07 they armed the place and left.” Google Maps shows it as more than six kilometers from work to home. Halbouni says staff often go home in groups, but Benoy left his friends to finish the journey home and was struck minutes later. Police say an investigation determined the suspect vehicle may be a dark colored sedan with significant damage to the front end, hood and windshield. “It’s not a road I would walk on if I had the choice,” says Molly Miksa, chief executive of London Cycle Link. “Like many arterial roads in the city, it’s very fast and cars don’t look for bikes.” Halbouni says Benoy never worried about traffic as he often went home in the middle of the night. On Hamilton Street on Monday, some cyclists rode on the pavement while others braved high-speed traffic. The fatal crash comes days after a neighbor in the area contacted cycling advocates. “There is a group in the area that wants to start a petition or in any way advocate for the dangerous conditions for cyclists and pedestrians in this area,” says Miksa. “That the cars are consistently going too fast, they’re loud and there aren’t enough safe places to cross.” Friends and roommates of Jibin Benoy mourn the loss of their friend. Benoy was killed while cycling home from work on Hamilton Road on September 18, 2022 in London Ont. (Brent Lale/CTV News London)
A pair of online fundraisers have been launched by the London Ontario Malaysian Association (LOMA), as well as Halbouni’s work family at Kluck.It. Benoy’s friends are grateful to all the people who helped in the last 36 hours from LOMA, the Halbouni family and Belen Matthew, who is working with the embassy in the process of sending Benoy’s body home. Stephen also says that London Police have also been supported. “We believe it will continue until the culprit is caught and brought to justice,” says Stephen. Investigators are asking anyone who was on Hamilton Street between 4:30 and 4:45 a.m., or anyone who has dash cam video that could help, to contact the London Police Department at (519) 661-5670 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).