Australia has been seeking hit-and-run Indian driver Puneet Puneet’s extradition ever since he fled to India using a friend’s passport in 2009.
Nineteen-year-old Gold Coast nursing student Dean Hofstee was killed and 20-year-old Clancy Coker was seriously injured when they were allegedly hit by a vehicle driven by Puneet in Southbank in Melbourne on October 1, 2008.
Police said he was over the legal alcohol limit and was estimated to be driving at 148 km/h. He pleaded guilty to culpable driving offences.
Melbourne-based chef, Jayant Dagore, said that his life has changed forever after he appeared as a witness in the extradition case in New Delhi in Aug 2017.
Jayant told SBS Punjabi that he and his friend, Anna Maria D’Annibale, were present in the New Delhi’s Patiala House Court at the request of Puneet’s lawyer, Kanhaiya Kumar Singhal.
“In August 2017, many media outlets portrayed me and my friend Anna as a Puneet Puneet a supporter. It is a false accusation,” he says.
“They published our names in the story without even looking at our actual statements in the court. All they wanted was to sensationalise this matter.
“A news reporter from New Delhi sent this coverage without even thinking about its consequences on our lives. He claimed that I am saying Australia is racist, which I never said!"
Jayant, who has lived in Australia for the past 22 years, is currently on a disability pension.
Jayant Dagore appeared as a witness in the Puneet Puneet extradition case in New Delhi in August 2017. Source: SBS
He said that he had told the Court that he is not in a position to comment on Puneet’s case.
“I do not support a criminal … if he is a criminal then he should be punished by law,” he said.
“In my statement, I’ve given a personal account of my life, my personal circumstances and what I witnessed in 2009 when about 15 Indian students were bashed at Glenroy station in Melbourne. It was Puneet’s lawyer who contacted me for my statement in this case. He read about my struggle in Australia through an Indian newspaper.
“Incidentally, this was about the time when I went to India to see my 86-year-old mother who had been sick for a long time, and I agreed to present myself in the court for the sake of explanation.
“I belong to a judiciary family and I respect the law of the country I live in. How I can make comments like that, which is not my subject?” he said.
“Australia is not a racist country. It’s a beautiful here. I have been an Australian citizen for the past 22 years.
“Being a member of Lion’s club for the past last 18 years, I have been working for the community shoulder to shoulder. I am part of their many fundraisers that have raised millions of dollars for Australian people.
“But now our life is in danger. I, along with my friend Anna, have so many threats on the internet - our names, address and phone numbers have been spread on intethe rnet.
“My deepest sympathies to the Hofstee family.... They should get justice. I can feel their pain and sufferings."
Melbourne-born designer Anna Maria D’Annibale also joined Jayant to give statements in the case of Puneet's extradition in New Delhi in Aug 2017.
Anna Maria D’Annibale says she never supported Puneet Puneet Source: SBS
She has also expressed her resentment over the media coverage that mentioned her as a ‘Puneet Puneet supporter’.
“We did not support Puneet Puneet et all. We’re not his friends.
“The pain and suffering that has caused Mr and Mrs Hofstee and the family is very deep and I feel for them.”
The extradition case against runaway Indian driver Puneet Puneet is currently underway at the Patiala District Court in New Delhi.
Puneet’s lawyer Kanhaiya Kumar Singhal told SBS Punjabi that his client is suffering from mental health issues ahead of the final hearing on Friday.
“We’ve moved an application under section 328 of CrPc (Code of Criminal Procedure)” he said. “He is not having (the) required mental health and he will not be able to defend himself here in India or in Australia. This is his mental health condition.”
During previous hearings, Puneet had used a kidney ailment as a defence against his extradition to Australia.
