Friends and family of an Indian migrant killed in Adelaide last week are thanking the generous donors for stepping up at a “difficult time” and raising over $85,000 within two days for the family of the deceased.
Jatinder Brar was killed after an allegedly stolen SUV crashed into his delivery truck in Salisbury South in Adelaide on Friday.
25-year-old Mr Brar completed his accounting degree last month and was due to travel to India shortly to visit his mother whose only support has been snatched forever by cruel fate.
An online fundraiser started by his friends to meet the expenses of repatriating his body to India and offering financial aid to his mother and sister in India has generated over $85,000 in less than 48 hours.
“We are extremely thankful to all the generous donors who have come forward at this difficult time. Nothing can fill the void left by Jatinder’s death, but we can try to help his family in our own way,” Mr Brar’s friend Satnam Singh Dhillon told SBS Punjabi.
His body is expected to be handed over by the end of this week and it will be then taken to his native village in Faridkot district in Punjab, India.
Source: Facebook
“I might travel to India with his cousin when the body is repatriated and will then hand over the cheque to his mother,” Mr Dhillon said.
Friends remember him as a man who was “always happy”.
“It’s a shocker for all of us. He doesn’t have a family here. We all lived like one,” his friend Bakhtiar Ahmed told 7 News.
“He was always happy and he used to make others laugh as well.”
Police alleged a 24-year-old woman was behind the wheel of a stolen Ford Territory and they had been chasing her, but the pursuit was abandoned just minutes before the vehicle rammed into Mr Brar’s truck. He died at the scene.
"Ten minutes prior to the crash, police engaged in a very brief pursuit with the stolen Ford Territory, but the pursuit was immediately terminated and the patrol lost sight of the car. The car was not being pursued at the time of the crash," the SA Police said in a statement.
The woman was arrested a short time later and charged with causing death by dangerous driving and dangerous driving to cause a police pursuit. She was refused bail and is due in court today.
