The Prime Minister has offered his heartfelt support to the widow who lost her husband and daughter in a horrific train crash at the weekend, urging his Home Secretary to treat her family with generosity and compassion.
Anthony Albanese’s comments come after Daily Mail Australia revealed that Poonam Runwal was facing deportation in the wake of the Carlton train tragedy that claimed the lives of her husband and young twin daughter.
She was relying on her husband’s work visa to stay in Australia, but it was due to expire next week.
Sympathetic neighbours have voiced their support for the grieving mother to be allowed to stay in the country, and now the Prime Minister has backed her case too.
“It’s obviously a decision for the Minister, but in my view, matters like this need to be dealt with with the compassion that Australians expect,” Albanese told a news conference on Thursday.
“This mother has watched her husband and one of her twin sons tragically lose their lives and I would have thought that we are a generous country and that Australians’ hearts would go out to this woman and her little boy.”
The shattered family has sparked an outpouring of emotion across the country since Mr Runwal died while heroically trying to save the lives of his twin daughters during a family outing on Sunday.
The Runwals had arrived at Carlton station in Sydney’s south at about 12.25pm and were exiting the station lift and walking up to the platform when they momentarily took their hands off the girls’ pram.
Anand Runwal (right) and his wife Poonam Runwal with their two-year-old twin daughters
Harrowing CCTV footage shows the young family’s final moments before they were separated in an unimaginable tragedy when their pram rolled onto the train tracks.
In an instant, her daughters’ stroller rolled and fell onto the train tracks.
Mr Runwal jumped across the tracks in an attempt to rescue his young daughters but was hit by a passing train as he tried to return the pram to the platform.
One of the twins, Hinal, also died in the ordeal, while her twin sister miraculously survived after rolling under the train.
New South Wales Police Superintendent Paul Dunstan said the parents apparently took their hands off the pram for “a very brief period” as it rolled onto the tracks.
Superintendent Dunstan said police were investigating what caused the pram to overturn and said it could have been something as simple as a “gust of wind”.
The family moved to Sydney from India in October 2023 after Runwal landed a job at IT firm Infosys on a skilled worker visa.
His visa was set to expire on August 1 and he was in the process of renewing it.
Mr Runwal sought advice on Facebook five weeks ago about the process for obtaining fast-track passports so he could complete the application.
“My visa will expire on August 1, 2024, while my passport is set to expire in February 2025,” she wrote.
‘According to my employer, I need to have at least 12 months of expiration date from today on my passport to extend my visa.’
As she was listed as a dependent on her husband’s work visa, Ms Runwal’s right to remain in Australia is now at risk as she faces this heartbreaking tragedy.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted the Department of Home Affairs for a response to the Prime Minister’s comments.
Police are investigating the scene of the horrific tragedy in Sydney’s south.
Despite the outpouring of support from across the country, Ms Runwal’s family have asked the public to refrain from attempting to raise funds for them on the internet, fearing that online scammers may try to exploit the tragic deaths of her husband and daughter by posting fake accounts designed to steal money from genuine supporters.
Instead, Mr Runwal’s employer, Infosys, has been helping the family with their ongoing expenses and assisting them in taking care of all funeral arrangements.
She was also offered additional support from Westpac, where her husband worked as an IT consultant for Infosys.
New South Wales Premier Chris Minns, who lives 100 metres from the station, said the father died while carrying out an “extraordinary and instinctive act of bravery”.
“He gave his own life to try to save his children,” he said.