Dentist Preethi Reddy murdered by ex-boyfriend in another horrific domestic violence incident

Beloved Sydney dentist Preethi Reddy was brutally murdered by her ex-boyfriend in March 2019. Her final acts before she was killed made her death even more tragic.

It’s been more than two years since Preethi Reddy, a beloved Sydney dentist, was brutally murdered by her ex-boyfriend.

Harshwardhan Narde, also a dentist, stabbed Dr Reddy to death inside a Sydney CBD hotel room in March 2019 before stuffing her body into a large suitcase and driving it to Sydney’s east.

Police had questioned Narde two days after her death but, after being interviewed for hours, he was allowed to head back to his home in Tamworth.

That night Narde died in a head-on collision with a truck near Tamworth in what police believe was a deliberate act.

A coronial inquest into Dr Reddy’s death held last year found the 32-year-old had died from a combination of blunt force injuries and stab wounds to her neck and back, inflicted moments after she had called her new boyfriend from the bathroom of Narde’s hotel room.

On average, one woman a week is murdered by her current or former partner.

Almost 10 women a day are hospitalised for assault injuries at the hands of a spouse or domestic partner.

Every day in May, as part of Domestic and Family Violence Awareness Month, news.com.au will tell the stories behind those shocking statistics.

Preethi Reddy was killed in March 2019. Picture: Facebook

Preethi Reddy was last seen at McDonalds in Sydney’s CBD.

The two had run into each other at a dental conference in the north of Sydney, with Dr Reddy agreeing to have dinner with her controlling ex.

Deputy state coroner Carmel Forbes said there was evidence Dr Reddy had tried to be “compassionate and understanding” to Narde, and attempted to give him closure as she moved on with a new man.

Narde murdered her the next day.

“The circumstances of Dr Reddy’s death are truly tragic and horrifying,” Magistrate Forbes said.

A huge social media campaign was launched by Dr Reddy’s family and friends when she failed to return home from the dental conference.

Dr Reddy’s loved ones were suspicious of Narde from the start, questioning him about her whereabouts.

Text messages obtained by the Daily Mail at the time showed a conversation between Narde and a friend.

“Hey, I spoke to her in person on Saturday evening … She said (she was going) home,” Narde replied, when questioned where Dr Reddy was.

When the friend suggested Dr Reddy was “maybe sleeping somewhere”, he replied: “Maybe”.

And when the friend admitted they were “scared” Dr Reddy had been missing for so long, Dr Narde said he was too.

“I feel disturbed as well … am sitting at one place for the last 30 minutes,” he wrote.

Harshwardhan Narde, 34, killed himself by crashing his BMW into a semi-trailer. Picture: Facebook

Dr Reddy’s body was found with several stab wounds inside a suitcase in the boot of a parked car in a laneway in Kingsford in Sydney’s eastern suburbs on March 5, 2019.

CCTV at the Swissotel, the hotel Narde murdered Dr Reddy in, showed him asking a hotel porter to help put a heavy suitcase into the boot of his car.

It’s understood police found the body of Dr Reddy in that same suitcase seen on the Swissotel CCTV.

Dr Reddy’s sister fights for domestic violence trauma recovery centre

Since her sister’s death, Nithya Reddy has been fighting for a trauma recovery centre in NSW’s Illawarra region.

The domestic violence trauma recovery centre would be an Australia first.

“A trauma centre would be fantastic, and the working model – in terms of having long-term treatment, long-term research – is vital,” Nithya told the ABC last year.

“It would assist women to recognise the dangers, the signs, recognise when a perpetrator is being coercively controlling.

“It would help in reducing the number of women that are killed and reducing the epidemic of domestic violence in our country.”

Nithya released a heartbreaking statement following the discovery of her sister’s body.

“Words cannot capture the pain we are feeling with the passing of my beautiful big sister,” she said.

“Preethi was a bright light, loveable, kind, and protective of all whom were lucky enough to have been loved and cared for by her.

“Prior to this unthinkable event, she had been the happiest I’d ever seen her – she was living her best life.”

Preethi Reddy is another woman tragically killed in a domestic violence incident.

Nithya had started a Facebook Group called “Help find Preethi Reddy” in the days leading up to her death.

“On behalf of my family, I want to thank anyone who shared our appeals to find her, and those who provided information to the police and us over the last few days,” she wrote in the statement.

“Our family will never be the same without Preethi in our lives … Please let her beautiful soul rest in peace.”