An NRI woman in her 40s from Australia, Priyadarshini Lingaraj Patil, died by suicide on Sunday, 27 August, in Karnataka's Belagavi district after allegedly learning that an online hearing for the custody battle of her two children was postponed to November. Her body was found on August 22.
The techie landed in Bengaluru from Sydney on 20 August, she did not reach her home in Dharwad. She had come to India to coach her father in dealing with her three-year-old custody battle for her two children – who are Australian citizens.
In a letter sent to her parents in Dharwad saying she was ending her life over being unable to regain custody of her 17-year-old son and 13-year-old daughter, who are in the custody of the Australian Communities and Justice Department.
According to media reports, the recovered suicide note had Patil accusing the New South Wales Department of Communities and Justice and a section of her neighbours of messing up her life.
The Case
Accoridng to reports, Patil's elder son suffered from ulcerative colitis – a chronic inflammatory bowel disease that is an immune disorder. This illness also deteriorated overtime, forcing him to be hospitalised.
It had been six months and the health condition of her son did not improve. Patil accused and filed a legal complaint against the doctors for not providing proper treatment.
In response, the doctors filed a complaint to child welfare against Patil allegedly accusing her for improper care given to the children at home causing the illness.
The Department of Communities and Justice took custody of both the children three years ago.
Following the death, the husband of the woman travelled alone to India to conduct the last rites last week.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)