Puneet Puneet extradition: Mum vows to fight for son despite debts
THE mother of hit-run driver Puneet Puneet says the family will continue to fight to stop his return from India to Australia, where she says “Indians are not safe”. The legal battle puts the family in debt.
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THE mother of hit-run driver Puneet Puneet says the family will continue to fight to stop his return from India to Australia, where she says “Indians are not safe”.
Puneet, who has spent a year in jail, faced court, and his time in custody was extended until January 13.
Puneet is accused of hitting and killing pedestrian Dean Hofstee, 19, and seriously injuring Clancy Coker, 20, in Southbank on October 1, 2008, while drunk and speeding.
The hospitality student, in Australia on an education visa, blamed a cat and sore eyes for the deadly crash.
He told the Herald Sun he had drunk four whiskey-and-cola drinks at a party in Nunawading and later driven off in his V6 Holden Commodore.
He eventually pleaded guilty, but in 2009 fled Australia on a friend’s passport.
He was on the run for almost five years before he was arrested in Panipat, India, on November 29 — the morning of his wedding.
The 25-year-old will gain a few days’ reprieve from jail after being granted permission to go to a government-run hospital in New Delhi for tests for a high fever and upset stomach.
Puneet’s mother, Geeta Rani, said that the family would continue to fight his extradition to Australia, despite being in debt.
“We are devastated by his arrest, our future ruined. We have put all our resources to fight his case,” Ms Rani said.
“First we took huge loans to send him to Australia for studying; now, again, we are under debts to fight his case.”
She said that her son was not “a terrorist, nor a murderer, and we won’t let him lose this fight”.
“Mistakes happen, but that doesn’t mean they will ruin his entire life. I am not going to send my Puneet again to Australia; if they think he is guilty, punish him in India only.
“My son will be killed in Australia. It is a racial country and Indians are not safe there.”
It was Puneet’s 25th hearing in Delhi’s Patiala Court, where he is fighting extradition.
Puneet was betrayed by a friend who tipped off police, apparently in response to a $100,000 reward from Victoria Police.