New Delhi/Sydney : External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Tuesday took up with her Australian counterpart the murder of an Indian IT consultant in a Sydney street. Australian police have released CCTV footage of the woman minutes before she was stabbed to death three days ago.
Prabha Arun, 41, employed with Bengaluru-based technology firm MindTree, was attacked at Amos Street in western Sydney on Saturday evening.
She was on the phone with her husband Arun Kumar, who lives in Bengaluru with their 10-year-old daughter, when she was stabbed and was around 300 metres from her Westmead home.
She was treated at the scene for stab wounds to her neck from a sharp-edged weapon and later died at Westmead Hospital.
External affairs ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin tweeted that Sushma Swaraj spoke to Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop “regarding the case of Mrs Prabha Arun Kumar. Assured of full cooperation”.
Arun Kumar has reached Sydney to complete the formalities of bringing back his wife’s body to India.
Australian police have also ruled out the racial attack angle behind the murder.
“Could this be a random attack? Well, yes it could. It could be a whole range of scenarios… and we are considering all of them,” New South Wales (NSW) Homicide Squad commander Detective Superintendent Michael Willing said.
Police also released CCTV footage of Prabha in the hope that it would jog the memory of anyone who saw her on Saturday night before she was murdered.
Prabha was reportedly working a double shift on the day of her death, police said.
Indian Australian Association of NSW president Yadu Singh said the company had a duty to ensure its workers got home safely.