Australian NRI charged for
murder his wife and step-daughter
Blacktown, Sydney, June 03, 2008
Sunil Agarwal
NRI Sanjay Mehta,41, a parking technician has been charged with
murdering his wife Jyoti Mehta, 38 and his nine-year-old step-daughter
Ujalla Dinesh.
Jyoti Mehta, and her nine-year-old daughter Ujalla Dinesh had
been reported missing by the husband on May 5. Yesterday, their
bodies were discovered in bush at the Blue Mountains by two bushwalkers
, bout 50 kilometres west of Sydney.
Police alleged that between 8pm and 10pm on May 5, while Mehta
was supposedly searching the streets of Blacktown, his mobile
phone was detected about 75 kilometres away, in the Blue Mountains.
He later recanted and said he had travelled to the Blue Mountains
that night, looking for his wife and Ujalla, the police document
said.Records also showed his mobile phone in the Blue Mountains
the next day, May 6. Mehta has denied this.
Homicide detectives interviewed Sanjay Mehta at Blacktown police
station and was charged with two counts of murder. Blacktown Local
Court refused bail of Sanjay. At the same time they seized a Toyota
Camry, which they will allege was used to transport the bodies
of the two to Echo Point. The accused had been verbally abusive
towards her and had made threats to kill both her and her daughter.
He will remain in custody until his next appearance, on July 21.
According to the police Sanjay Mehta placed the two bodies in
a vehicle and took two other family members for a drive to Echo
Point at Katoomba, a popular tourist spot in the Blue Mountains.
While Sanjay’s biological son and daughter went for a walk,
he allegedly threw the bodies off the cliff.
In January, Jyoti had approached the Police, after she was verbally
abused and threatened by her husband. Poonam Sharma, younger sister
of Jyoti told media that several weeks ago, we pleaded her sister
to come home for the sake of their sick mother. Jyoti’s
mother Nirmala Sharma was admitted to Hospital for dialysis and
was not told about her death.
Sanjay Mehta's ex-wife moved to India after divorce. They had
two children, one son 14-year-old and one daughter. According
to the police, he told his son to tell the police that he had
searched the neighbourhood for his wife and stepdaughter for two
hours that night. His son told the police that his dad misled
him.
Jyoti Mehta and her husband had been married for 12 months. They
met on the Internet in July 2006 and married in May 2007 after
she moved to Australia.
