Australian man dies in India, as cause of death remains unconfirmed

By admin On May 8, 2021

An Australian permanent resident has died in India, as the country faces steep challenges with rising COVID-19 numbers.

A Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesperson confirmed Australian officials remain in contact with the bereaved family but declined to comment on the circumstances surrounding the man’s death.

“The Australian Government is providing consular assistance to the family of an Australian permanent resident whose death was reported to our High Commission in India,” the spokesperson told 9News.com.au.

People watch burning funeral pyres of their relatives who died of COVID-19 in a ground that has been converted into a crematorium in New Delhi, India, Thursday, May 6, 2021. (AP)

“Australia’s High Commission and consulates general in India continue to assist Australians in need”.

Foreign Minister Marise Payne confirmed the death yesterday but did not detail the circumstances surrounding the man’s death.

A Sydney woman who identified herself as the man’s daughter said both of her parents contracted COVID-19 in India and claimed the Australian High Commission in Delhi “did nothing more than call my mother once in a while”.

“With a very heavy heart and pain I need to inform you that my father has left us, for his journey in heavens,” the woman who did not want to be identified wrote on social media.

Multiple funeral pyres of victims of COVID-19 burn at a ground that has been converted into a crematorium for mass cremation in New Delhi, India. (AP)

“Now all I have left is my mother, who has been abandoned by her own government in India, [with] no way to come back to her children.

“We all want to cry our hearts out, but we are saving them for when we are all together again.

In the now deleted post, she pleaded for assistance in getting her mother back to Australia.

“Please save your own humanity, by doing the right thing.”

Relatives react to heat emitting from the multiple funeral pyres of COVID-19 victims at a crematorium in the outskirts of New Delhi, India. (AP)

The woman told SBS her father died in a New Deli hospital three days after the Morrison government imposed a travel ban.

“[My father] got the email from the Australian government regarding the new rule and everything. He was sick, and in that condition, receiving this news really panicked him,” she told SBS.

She said he had become a permanent resident more than 10 years ago and that he had not qualified to become a citizen as he travelled back and forth to manage a hotel in India.

Women mourn the death of a family member, who died due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), outside the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital (LNJP), one of the largest facilities for coronavirus disease patients, in New Delhi, India on May 4, 2021. (Photo by Mayank Makhija/NurPhoto via Getty Images) — Unidentified women mourn the death of a family member, outside one of the largest facilities for coronavirus disease patients in New Delhi. (Getty)

The woman is an Australian citizen, along with her brother and mother.

This comes as India records 401,078 new cases and 4187 coronavirus related deaths in the last 24 hours.

Ms Payne extended her sympathies to the family.

“I don’t think it’s helpful to speculate and particularly out of respect for the family,” Ms Payne told 2GB.

“I will receive further advice from our posts in India in relation to that.

People are silhouetted against multiple burning funeral pyres of patients who died of COVID-19 in New Delhi, India. (Getty)

“But most importantly let me extend my sympathy and that of the government to the family of this person, and to so many families that we know are dealing with what is an extraordinary challenge with infection rates surging over 400,000 infections a day at the moment in India.

“There are very many families dealing with this challenge.”