A 37-year-old man arrested in connection with the murder of an Indian youth in Rushworth area of Australia's central state of Victoria, has been charged with one count of murder.
The victim Lakhvinder Singh, who migrated to Australia from Punjab in 2007, was stabbed to death on Thursday night, following which police arrested a suspect, Thy Sok, of Springvale suburb.
Sok, reported to be a Vietnamese national, appeared before a bail justice here on April 22, and was charged with one count of murder. He was remanded in custody till Wednesday, when he would appear before the Melbourne Magistrates Court, local media reported.
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Homicide detectives were called to the Miners Pick Caravan Park in Neill Street after the local police were alerted that a man's body had been discovered around 1.30 a.m. local time on Friday.
The Caravan Park's owner, Pam, said she had coffee with the 28-year-old victim — who was working in a tomato farm apart from doing spray painting in a bid to save enough money for a holiday overseas — the previous day and nothing seemed amiss.
“He was in my kitchen and we were just chatting away,” she said adding “he said he was saving up to go and see his family... he said he needed a break from the spray painting as well, as it was not doing his health any good.”
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“He was just a normal nice guy, I've known him for years, I think he was married with a child,” she said.
Lakhvinder's wife Beant Kaur, who is on a visit to India, broke down at her Rajpura residence in Punjab on hearing the shocking news. “He had no enemies. I don't know why he was targeted,” she said.
“My brother-in-law Sukhdip Singh informed me on Friday that Lakhvinder had been stabbed to death. We don't have any more information,” said Kulwinder Singh, brother of Lakhvinder.