The coroner overseeing an investigation into the deaths of four South Asian women in one area of Melbourne has called for more to be done to help vulnerable women in the community.
Releasing her findings on Tuesday from the Coroners Court of Victoria, Coroner Audrey Jamieson acknowledged there was an"elevated frequency of suicides" among South Asian women in 2018 in the local government area of the City of Whittlesea, compared with one such death for the period 2009-2015.
She also recommended Victoria Police allocates Family Violence Investigation Units to investigate suspected intentional deaths of women in the local government area who are from culturally and linguistically diverse communities in circumstances where there is an indication that prior family violence or social isolation may be contributing factors.
In June, SBS News first reported about a cluster of seven suspected suicides with disturbing similarities which had left lawyers and police concerned about the circumstances surrounding those in the Indian community of Melbourne's City of Whittlesea. Principal solicitor from the Whittlesea Community Connections Community Legal Service, Chris Howse, who had formally requested the Coroners Court to intervene and investigate these cases, welcomed the findings on Tuesday.
"At stake is the chance that our work to get them out of the house, to get them together, to speak about rights, will fail without the help of the secretary, which the Coroner recommends she provide, in every one of the findings, into each of these four deaths," Mr Howse said.
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