The family of a young Indian student who died at the house of a woman he met online in what Victorian police believe was a date gone wrong, say they're devastated.
Victoria Police said 24-year-old Maulin Rathod went to a house at Ross Court in Sunbury, in Melbourne’s north-west, on Monday evening after arranging to meet up with a 19-year-old woman he’d met online.
About 9pm, emergency services were called to the home and found Mr Rathod with “life-threatening injuries”. He was taken to hospital, where he died.
Police arrested the woman the next day, later charging her with intentionally causing serious injury.
“It’s believed the pair had arranged to meet at the property and were known to each other,” Victoria Police said in a statement.
Mr Rathod’s cousin Neeraj Chavada told SBS Hindi the family were still in shock.
"The doctors couldn’t save him. He passed away the next day," his cousin said.
Rathod, the only child of his parents, has been remembered by friends and family as one of the "kindest souls who had more friends than money".
“He was such a kind soul. He had so many friends. He was empathetic and would rush to help even if he had known the person only for a day,” his cousin said.
Maulin arrived in Australia on a student visa and was pursuing a course in accountancy in Melbourne. He lived in Elsternwick and worked as a delivery driver to support himself.
“He loved dogs and was a passionate cricketer. He was full of life," Mr Chavada told SBS Hindi.
“He was his parents’ only child. His mother is devastated. She hasn’t eaten anything and is desperate to see her child."
Mr Chavada is now working to repatriate Maulin’s body to Ahmedabad, in Western India.
“I am immensely thankful to our Gujarati Samaj and members of our Indian community who have come forward to help us in such tragic circumstances,” Mr Chavada said.
“I am in touch with our Consul General to send his mortal remains to Ahmedabad as soon as possible."
Mr Rathod’s friend, Lovepreet Singh, told The Age the student had moved to Australia four years ago for his studies.
"He was a very nice person, he had a jolly nature and he was a cricket lover. I loved to hang around him. He had a very humble person and tried really hard with his studies," he said.
The 19-year-old woman faced Melbourne Magistrates’ Court and has been remanded in custody until Monday, July 30.
Police said they now expect to upgrade her charges.
Channel 7 has reported the woman lived in residential care, with neighbours complaining of frequent police visits and noisy disturbances.
