Latest news with #PrabhaArunKumar
Yahoo
22-07-2025
- Yahoo
Husband not co-operating with probe into wife's murder
A mother walking home alone through a city park at night is stabbed in the neck and left to die. Ten years after the brutal murder and following an inquest, police have made a last-ditch plea for information to track down her killer and whoever helped organise what police believe was a targeted attack. Prabha Arun Kumar was found unresponsive and bleeding profusely in Parramatta Park in Sydney's west on March 7, 2015, and died in hospital hours later. The 41-year-old was on the phone to her husband Arun in India when she was stabbed in the neck, with Mr Kumar reporting hearing his wife confronted by her attacker. He was having an affair while overseas in India at the time of the killing and remains a significant focus of the police investigation, amid suspicion he may have been involved in arranging her murder, the inquest was told. He received $631,000 in financial benefits including workers' compensation, superannuation and unpaid leave following Ms Kumar's death, the inquest was told, and deleted call history and WhatsApp messages as he waited to board a plane to Sydney after his wife was stabbed. Mr Kumar has never been charged over his wife's death and police have not identified her attacker. Detective Superintendent Joe Doueihi said Mr Kumar was not co-operating with police. "He was invited ... to attend the inquest and wasn't compelled, and he didn't respond to that," he said. "Telecommunication records of suspects, persons of interest, witnesses are very important to criminal investigations and coronial matters ... without those records, it makes it more difficult for investigators to establish where the truth lies." Det Supt Doueihi addressed media on Tuesday, flanked by Ms Kumar's sister Shuba who has been in Australia for the inquest. He conceded the investigation was at a dead end, with a $1 million reward announced in October 2024 not eliciting any major information. Two people involved in suspicious sightings in the area on the night of the attack - a person seen in a nearby golf club and another hiding in a resident's backyard - have not been identified. "I cannot see this investigation progressing without the assistance of the public, it is absolutely essential," Det Supt Doueihi said. "I'm confident that there is someone out there that knows what happened, that knows who is responsible for this crime." The death is being treated as a targeted attack and police have dismissed any thought it was linked to robbery, sexual violence or racial bias. Investigators previously flew to India and interviewed a number of individuals, including Mr Kumar. The husband, who lived in Bangalore with the couple's daughter, flew to Australia when he learned of his wife's death. She was said to be only weeks away from moving back to India because she missed her family. The case has been referred to the NSW Police unsolved homicide squad for further investigation.
ABC News
22-07-2025
- ABC News
Stabbing death of Prabha Arun Kumar in 2015 ruled a 'targeted killing' by coroner
A coroner has found the death of a 41-year-old mother in Western Sydney a decade ago was the result of homicide committed by an unknown person, insisting police continue their investigation into her "targeted killing". Indian national Prabha Arun Kumar died after being stabbed multiple times in the neck by a person dressed in black while walking home alone through Parramatta on the night of March 7, 2015. Ms Kumar was then taken to Westmead Hospital but died the following day. The inquest heard that at the time of the attack Ms Kumar was on the phone with her husband, Arun Kumar, who was in India. The coroner was previously told the husband had been having an affair, had just renewed his wife's life insurance, and changed the PIN on her bank account only an hour before her stabbing. The court heard that police were still investigating whether Mr Kumar may have organised the hit on his wife. Mr Kumar has never been charged in relation to his wife's death, and the person who carried out the attack has never been identified. The mother-of-one was seen on multiple security camera's catching two trains and walking through Parramatta in the lead-up to the attack. CCTV footage released by the court shows an unidentifiable figure dressed in black captured on a resident's security cameras near where the attack took place on the same night. Handing down his findings on Tuesday, Deputy State Coroner David O'Neil said that police considered the most likely explanation for Ms Kumar's death was a "targeted killing". Mr O'Neil referred the case to the NSW Police unresolved homicide squad to continue their investigation.
