"My name is Parwinder," the 32-year-old can be heard saying in a quiet voice. "My husband nearly killed me." Shortly after, Parwinder Kaur's neighbours reported hearing a "blood-curdling scream", seeing Ms Kaur, running from the house, as a "ball of fire", the inquest has heard. Her husband, Kulwinder Singh, was seen running after her and patting her as if to put out the flames.
But she died early the following morning after suffering burns to almost 85 per cent of her body. Her husband later told police their marriage had no problems. "I never tried to hurt her," he told investigators. But counsel assisting, Philip Strickland SC, has told Deputy State Coroner Sharon Freund that the evidence appears inconsistent with any suggestion Ms Kaur had set herself on fire in a bid to end her life or to attract police attention.
Whilst the inquest into Parwinder Kaur's death continues, and it hasn't been ascertained whether her husband set her alight, many other women of Indian origin, have been killed over the past few years by their husbands, both in Sydney and Melbourne. In some cases, children aged between 3 and 9 were also killed, along with their mothers.
After hearing the findings of the Victorian Coroner on Monday Sep 28, Australian of the Year Rosy Batty said "I'm glad that Luke's death has not been in vain", because it has put family violence on the national agenda like nothing before. Perhaps the Coroner's inquest into Parwinder Kaur's death in Sydney, should mobilise the Australian Indian community to take stronger steps too, to honour the memory of all those, who have been killed in the past few years.
SBS Punjabi's Manpreet K Singh has identified Indian victims of family violence in Australia (many of them Punjabi), who were killed by their husband or father, between 2009 and 2015:
Source: Supplied
Source: Supplied
Dec 2009 - MANPREET Kaur, Sydney
May 2012 - PREETIKA Sharma, Divesh (5 yo), Divya (3 yo), Melbourne
June 2012 - ANITA, Phillip (9 yo), Matthew (5 yo), Melbourne
June 2012 - NIDHI Sharma, Asim Sharma, Melbourne
Oct 2012 - SARGUN Ragi, Melbourne
Aug 2013 - SANDEEP Thind, Sydney
Dec 2013 - PARWINDER Kaur, Sydney
Dec 2014 - DEEPSHIKHA Godara Beniwal, Melbourne
Jan 2015 - Nikita Chawla, Melbourne
Apart from the case of Nidhi Sharma, who first killed her husband and then committed suicide, the male partners were either convicted or are being tried in court, for the violent killings, in all of the above mentioned cases.
SBS Punjabi will endeavour to bring you the latest from the Glebe Coroner's Court, over the coming days.
In the meantime, please note:
National domestic violence helpline: 1800 737 732 or 1800RESPECT. In an emergency call triple-zero
