NRI techie ends life in Karnataka, blames stringent Australia laws for her extreme decision

The body of a 44-year-old NRI woman who reportedly ended her life by jumping into Malaprabha river near Munavalli in Saundatti taluk, was found on Thursday late evening.

She reportedly blamed Australian laws in connection with protection of children for her extreme decision. Priyadarshini Patil, daughter of retired professor S S Desai and Shobha, residents of Saptapur in Dharwad had married Lingaraj Patil of Kalyan Nagar of Dharwad.

Both being engineers, they had settled at Sydney in Australia. The couple has a son- Amartya and daughter Aparajita. Both the children had got Australian citizenship as they were born there.

According to family sources, Amartya (17) developed some health issues and he was treated by doctors in Australia. Since the treatment did not help and Amartya had further complications, Priyadarshini had filed a complaint against the doctor.

The complaint boomeranged as the Australian authorities charged Priyadarshini with not taking proper care of the children, and citing the local laws on protection of children, the authorities took the children under the government’s custody.

Hurt by these developments, Priyadarshini tried to bring her children to Dharwad but her efforts went futile as the stringent laws in Australia did not allow the children to go out of the country.

Priyadarshini left for India alone on August 18 and reached Bengaluru. She had booked a ticket by bus for Dharwad on August 19 and but did not board that bus, according to family sources.

She took another bus, reached Hubballi and went to a courier office. She had packed all her money and jewelleries along with a letter addressed to her parents in a bag and asked the courier services to send it to her father’s address. Pridarshini had reportedly informed the courier office staff that she was heading towards Gokak in Belagavi district. She has reportedly explained in the letter that how the stringent laws of Australia made her undergo a lot of mental agony.

When Priyadarshini did not reach home at the scheduled time, her anxious parents informed the police.

Meanwhile, Priyadarshini went to Munavalli in a bus from Hubballi and got down there. She walked along Malaprabha River and jumped into the river near Naviluteertha Dam, said a family member.

The decomposed body was found in the backwaters of Malaprabha in Renuka Sagar.

“Since she had brought the passports of her two children along with her, the children could not travel to India. Her husband Lingaraj reached Dharwad after which the last rites were performed," said Desai.