Oz teen charged in Nitin Garg murder
A 15-year-old Australian boy was on Thursday charged with the murder of Indian student Nitin Garg, with the police saying there was no racial motive in the killing, which had sent shock waves back home.
The breakthrough in the high-profile case, which threatened to derail India-Australia ties, came with the police arresting the teenage suspect early on Thursday morning. The teenager who cannot be named was produced before a children’s court after his arrest in a Melbourne suburb.
The provincial government of Victoria informed the consulate general of India in Melbourne about the breakthrough. Indian minister for overseas Indian affairs Vayalar Ravi says he is reassured there is now less violence against Indian students in Melbourne.
Garg, 21, was stabbed to death while walking to work through a park on January 2, and the incident was one in a series of violent attacks against Indians in Australia. The crime which came in for strong condemnation both in New Delhi and Canberra, with external affairs minister S.M. Krishna describing it as a “heinous crime on humanity” and “an uncivilised brutal attack on innocent Indians”.
However, the Victorian police, who made the arrest, said there was no racial motive found in the killing of Garg investigations so far. “In our inquiries at this stage we don’t believe (Garg’s death) was racially motivated,” detective inspector handling the case, Bernie Edwards, said.
“It’s relatively clear why it happened and how it happened but I won’t speculate on the motive,” he said. He further said there was no evidence of gang involvement in Garg’s death.
The Victorian police has not identified the 15-year-old suspect and hasn’t disclosed the details of the crime because of legal issues in dealing with a juvenile. Mr Edwards admitted that homicide detectives had felt the pressure of solving the murder after the Indian government had claimed it was racially-motivated. “Like any homicide we will keep going until we solve it, however there was a lot of pressure and I congratulate senior Sergeant Dave Snare and his team in their investigation,” Mr Edwards said.
“We are extremely pleased for Nitin Garg’s family and the Indian community here in Australia,” he said.
The teenager responded “okay” after the magistrate outlined the schedule of dates for his case. His parents were also present in the court and the mother was seen weeping as the teenager was remanded to custody after a brief appearance.
Mr Edwards said the police was also questioning a number of other people in connection with the killing but did not say if further charges were expected.
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