THOSE close to Launceston doctor Renu Singh fear she is being pressured by Indian authorities to “change her evidence” against her violent former husband Lokendra Singh.
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Renu remains trapped in her native India, 10 months after Singh was found guilty of trying to murder her.
Renu’s evidence proved integral in putting Singh behind bars, after she testified in court about how he attempted to choke her to death and cut her throat in the pair’s Newnham home in February 2014.
Despite the verdict, Renu remains unable to return to work at the Launceston General Hospital, and is unable to even leave her homeland, after having her passport confiscated by Indian authorities upon her return to visit family and friends last year.
Her passport was taken after Singh’s family – which is influential in India – filed a false police complaint against her.
She remains locked in a legal stoush to get it back and the Australian government has told her there is little it can do.
Her situation has now been made worse, she said, by the threats she has received from supporters of Singh, saying she “should do whatever it takes” to get her abuser out of prison.
“If I don't agree they will mess up my life, which is insane,” she said.
“They do not understand that he is a criminal.”
Renu said India’s court scheduling means she faces long waits between appearances.
Positively, her case was recently transferred to the Jaipur region upon her request – away from the Bharatpur region where Singh’s family is understood to have influence.
”They have taken my evidences on file which was not taken by Bharatpur police earlier. I hope they serve me with justice,” she said.
Close friend and colleague at the LGH Robin Ikin said “hospital staff are stunned and upset” that Renu has not been allowed to return to Tasmania.
“People feel helpless in the face of the Indian justice system and say they wish the Australian government could do more,” Ms Ikin said.
“They are very grateful that her job at the LGH is safe however.”
In April, Indian police filed their own charges against Singh for his treatment of Renu.
In Tasmania, Singh is currently awaiting sentencing for attempted murder.
