Gaurav Kundi
Credit: Facebook/Kundi Gaurav
A 42-year-old Indian-origin man had died days after an Australian police officer allegedly knelt on his neck during an attempted arrest, on Sunday.
Who is Gaurav Kundi?
Gaurav Kundi, a father of two, from Modbury North in Adelaide, died surrounded by his family on Thursday after he was hospitalised for an “unrecoverable” brain injury.
According to a report by 7News, police had on May 29 attempted to arrest Kundi on Payneham Rd at Royston Park arund 2.45 am, alleging that it witnessed an “altercation” between him and a woman.
The video footage of the incident showed Kundi being forced by police while he and his wife, Amritpal Kaur, loudly protested. “I’ve done nothing wrong,” Kundi shouted while Kaur filmed and cried out that the police were acting unfairly.
Kundi was rushed to the hospital after he “became unresponsive” during the attempted arrest.
Police said that Kundi violently resisted the arrest and was intoxicated. It also said that the couple was allegedly arguing, and a passing patrol reportedly mistook the incident for domestic violence.
According to a report by 9News, Kundi's wife Kaur had said that a cop used his knee on Kundi's neck during the arrest.
"At this stage there is nothing to support any allegations that a knee was placed on the person's neck during the incident," Police Commissioner Grant Stevens said.
Stevens said that it would investigate the incident in addition to a probe by the internal investigation section detectives.
The case is being compared to 2020 George Floyd arrest case in the US. Floyd was murdered by a Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin, who pressed his knee and the weight of his body against the 46-year-old Black American man's neck.