A well-known Melbourne volunteer and former political candidate, along with her partner and her nine-year-old daughter, are being mourned after they were among five people killed after a car crashed through the busy beer garden of the Royal Daylesford hotel on Sunday.
Tributes were being paid to Pratibha Sharma, 44, her daughter, Anvi, and her partner, Jatin Chugh, 30, after the Point Cook family were named among the dead on Monday night.
They were enjoying a holiday with family friends Vivek Bhatia, 38, and his 11-year-old son, Vihaan, who were also killed in the crash. Bhatia’s 36-year-old wife, Ruchi, and six-year-old son, Abeer, were taken to hospital with serious injuries.
The federal MP Tim Watts paid tribute to both families and said Sharma was well regarded in his electorate in Melbourne’s west.
“Pratibha was very well-known in the community, she was a candidate for parliament,” Watts told ABC News Breakfast on Tuesday morning. “I know Anvi was an enthusiastic Bollywood dancer.
“We’re working with the community, it’s going to be a long recovery period from this tragedy.”
In 2018, Sharma ran as an independent for the state seat of Werribee and was a candidate in the Wyndham city council elections two years later.
“I migrated to Australia in 2004 and started my life from scratch. I am very grateful for the opportunities that I have received in this great country and believe it is now my turn to give back and serve the community,” Sharma wrote in a Facebook post announcing that she was running for council.
“I have lived in our community for over 13 years, working as an entrepreneur, raising my 6 year old daughter and looking after my elderly parents, so I am well aware of the concerns and issues currently being faced by women, kids, parents, local residents, and businesses.”
Sharma described herself as a “lady full of strength and dignity who laughs without fear of the future”.
She said she had worked as a banker, community worker, entrepreneur and registered migration agent, and volunteered with the non-profit organisation Australian Sikh Support during the pandemic.
Daljeet Bakshi, from Australian Sikh Support, said Sharma helped deliver food to those in need during lockdowns.
“She used to deliver it in her own car, risking her own life and her family’s life,” Bakshi told ABC TV.
“And her beautiful daughter, she was so regular with her, visiting the Sikh temple in Craigieburn and helping her mum in the community service out of there.
“It was a lovely family and their life has gone … Pratibha was a lovely soul, dedicated volunteer, a good mother who was taking care of her beautiful girl.”
The former Victorian state MP Kaushaliya Vaghela said Sharma was known for her “vivacious personality and volunteering work”.
“Pratibha was very interested in Australian Politics,” Vaghela wrote on Facebook.
“Melbourne is extremely poorer without the smiling and vibrant person like Pratibha, who is gone too soon. [The] entire Indian community in Victoria is saddened and shocked by this devastating news.”
The state MP for Tarneit, Dylan Wight, extended his condolences to Bhatia’s family, who lived in his electorate.
“I know many in our community will be experiencing shock and deep sorrow at the sudden and incomprehensible loss of friends and loved ones,” Wight wrote on social media.
“I want all those affected to know that they are not grieving alone, and that the entire community stands with you in support during this terrible time.”
Just after 6pm on Sunday, a white BMW SUV mounted the kerb and hit patrons on the front lawn of the Royal Daylesford hotel, police have said.
The Victorian chief police commissioner, Shane Patton, on Monday said four victims had died at the scene.
Patton said the families were “visitors just going about their everyday life, just enjoying themselves on a beautiful Sunday afternoon”.
“It is an absolute tragedy,” he said.
The driver of the BMW, a 66-year-old man from Mount Macedon, was taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
He was breath tested and did not have alcohol in his system, Patton said. The driver’s blood tests will also be analysed.
Police were hoping to interview the man on Wednesday.
