New lead in Indian woman techie's murder in Australia

Melbourne, Feb 22: Investigators have uncovered a fresh lead in the mysterious murder of 41-year-old Indian woman IT professional in Australia last year that indicates someone in India may have played a role in the killing.

Prabha Arun Kumar, who was sent to Australia on a three-year deputation by MindTree company, was stabbed to death by an unidentified assailant while walking towards her home in Sydney in March.

Over 2,000 people have been questioned by police and almost 250 statements have been recorded as part of the investigation into the killing, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

Police have several persons of interest in their sights over the killing of the mother of one as they attempt to piece together who stabbed the IT worker after she got off the train at Parramatta on March 7 last year. One of those lines of inquiry is that someone known to Kumar, and living in India, was involved in her death.

"We have considered the possibility that an offender had (helped commit or been involved with) this crime outside of Australia," Detective Sergeant Ritchie Sim told Fairfax Media.

While detectives weigh up the theory that someone in a country 10,000 kilometres away had a hand in her death, they are confident Kumar did not know the person who actually ended her life. "We are considering the possibility that the offender is still in Australia as well as the possibility the offender has left Australia," he said.

Every resident in the Parramatta Park area where the incident took place and those who were home that night have been spoken to and the area has been canvassed as many as four times.

Murder weapon has not yet been discovered. Kumar, who was speaking to her India-based husband Arun Kumar on the phone while walking down a dimly lit path in a Paramatta park, was barely 300 metres away from her home in western Sydney when she was "suddenly" approached by someone and fatally stabbed in the neck.

Over last one year, investigators' probe has spanned to both countries. There were crucial missing minutes between when Kumar turned onto an area that was not covered by CCTV, that posed a challenge in the probe.

CCTV image that captured the unidentified figure walking through the Parramatta Golf Course on the fateful night was described as 'grainy and dark' and the investigators stated that the footage was poor quality.

Investigators said that there were aspects of Kumar's life that need to be explored further. They have ruled out sexual assault and robbery are motives in the murder.

They are said to be in close contact with authorities in India, where Kumar and the rest of her family live. "Because Prabha was an Indian National, the geographical distance between our two countries is an obstacle," Sim said.

PTI