Wife, daughter of restaurateur Sharif Rahman pray for justice as Owen Sound police investigate fatal beating

Shayela Nasrin says that days after Sharif Rahman's death, she still sometimes feels as if she's moments away from hearing the familiar sound of her husband opening the front door and coming home from work.

Before long, though, the reality that her and her daughter will have to navigate the rest of their lives without the Owen Sound, Ont., restaurant owner and community volunteer sets in.

"In every corner of the house, I can feel him," said Nasrin.

Rahman, 44, died Thursday after spending time on life-support in a London, Ont., hospital. According to Owen Sound police, he was attacked Aug. 17 by three male patrons in a dispute over an unpaid dining bill. His funeral was held Sunday.

Rahman's death is being investigated as a homicide and police are still searching for the three male suspects.

"They just destroyed a beautiful family. We just started our beautiful family," Nasrin said.

The family moved to Canada from Bangladesh roughly 10 years ago. A few years later, they settled in Owen Sound, where Rahman opened The Curry House and shared his passion for food with his new community.

"He tried to give his best at the restaurant — always. He cooked with love and passion, not only for me and my daughter," said Nasrin.

Rahman was an incredibly hard worker who was heavily involved in the community, always lent a hand to those in need and loved to provide food to those without, Nasrin added.

As police investigate and the community rallies around her family, Nasrin now looks to her six-year-old daughter, Shaikha, to whom she has to explain why she'll never again be able to eat her father's food, hear his voice or see his smile.

"She's not expressing that much, but she knows what happened to daddy," said Nasrin.

"When she was spending the last moment with daddy at the hospital before the life-support was taken off, she was telling me, 'Why does it have to be my dada? Why did people do that do my dada? Why did dada go out instead of calling 911?'"

Shaikha has told her mother twice that no food she's eaten has tasted good since her father died.

"How much pain is inside her?" Nasrin said.