The Australian government has expressed its condolences over the death of an engineer of Indian origin, Priyadarshini Patil, who was found dead last week in Karnataka, allegedly upset by the Australian authorities having separated her from her teenage children for the last two years. Officials in Sydney are reportedly reviewing the case now, and assessing whether custody can be returned to the children’s father or grandparents.
Activists have highlighted the case’s similarities to that of two-year-old Ariha Shah — who was taken away from her parents over allegations of child abuse and is now in the custody of German youth services — and a series of other cases involving Indian children or children of Indian origin. Demanding that the Central government take a more “proactive” role in such cases, a group of activists plans to take out a protest march in Delhi on Thursday, and hand over a memorandum to the Australian High Commissioner, asking that the Patil children, who were not allowed to attend their mother’s funeral in India, be returned to their family at the earliest.
Ms. Patil’s family say that 17-year-old Amartya Patil and 13-year-old Aparajita Patil were removed from their parents’ custody in 2021 after they complained about medical negligence at a public children’s hospital in Sydney, where Amartya was being treated for a severe illness.
