JOIN USThe mortal remains of Prabha Arun Kumar, the Bengaluru-based techie who was stabbed in Sydney on Saturday, was handed over to her husband after post mortem at a local hospital there.
“My uncle Arun Kumar (victim’s husband) visited the hospital in Sydney at 11 am on Monday and established the identity of my aunt Prabha. He completed formalities and took possession of the body,” Thrijesh, Prabha’s relative, told Deccan Herald.
The Indian government, the Australian government and representatives from Mindtree, Prabha’s employer, are assisting Kumar and Prabha’s brother Dr Shankar Shetty to bring the body back to India.
Mindtree has promised that the body would reach Bengaluru on Wednesday, Thrijesh added.
The victim’s family, however, has taken serious objection to the facilities provided to Prabha by her employer.
“Mindtree neglected issues of women’s safety. It did not provide her transport facilities. Prabha had worked over-time the previous night. She again attended work the next morning. The firm should have ensured a cab facility in such a situation which would have possibly avoided the tragedy,” Thrijesh said.
Meanwhile, India has requested top officials in New South Wales (NSW), Australia, to pursue the probe with “utmost importance”.
Sushma has been personally monitoring the efforts by the Consulate General of India in Sydney to help the family of the victim.
Sunjay Sudhir, Consul General in Sydney, spoke to NSW premier Mike Baird early on Monday and he was assured that no stone would be left unturned to bring the perpetrator to justice.
Sydney witnessed several attacks on Indian students in 2009 and 2010 and at least some of them were suspected to be racially motivated. The attacks had strained New Delhi’s ties with Canberra.
This time, India has refrained from calling the attack to be motivated by racial elements. “At this stage, I don’t think we should impute any motives. The police are on their job. Let us wait for their outcome,” said Ministry of External Affairs official spokesman Syed Akbaruddin.
“There is no evidence which I have seen which indicates any racial undertone to this attack,” Sudhir added.
“Could this be a random attack? Well, yes it could. It could be a whole range of scenarios,” NSW Homicide Squad Commander detective superintendent Michael Willing said.
A special detective squad — Strike Force Marcoala—has been formed to investigate the case.
The police also released CCTV footage of Prabha walking from the Parramatta train station just before she was fatally stabbed and appealed to people for information.