I Knew Puneet

It is very unfortunate that just one incident can turn the page of your life, just the way it did for Puneet Puneet.  A happy-go-lucky young man became a victim of his own reckless actions not imagining that those actions could have dire consequences. Today, he is pleading from Indian authorities to prevent him from extradition as one last hope before he gets the sentence in Australia.

Not forgetting the embarrassment Puneet has caused to India as a nation, he owe an apology to a lot of people including family and friends of late Dean Hoftsee and Sukhcharanjit Singh, who in the spirit of friendship had to bear the consequences and was jailed for 30 months on account of helping him. I do not know the inside story but I wonder why Puneet could not take a stand for his friend at that stage knowing Sukhcharan was not to be blamed for any of it. With utmost due respect to the parents who lost their son’s life, which in no way can be mended; here is another mother whose breath is hanging in 2 countries decision. There again, Puneet needs to realise the pain he has caused to his own folks and friends. His image simply emerged out as a mean reckless young man who cared about nothing but himself.

I am no one to comment or make a decision for his fate but it didn’t stop me to think of what could have happened and what has. He was not very well known to me and I do acknowledge the truth that he did wrong but I cannot deny that my heart sinks every time I read his news. May be because, I could visualize him standing next to me cracking jokes and making me laugh.  He was a team leader in the company I worked for as a Recruitment Officer and so my relationship to him had been on a professional level. I remember Puneet as a confident salesperson with an immense amount of energy. He had a knack of making people listen to him. I was certainly aware that his team loved him as he had a good humour informal tone while making a conversation.

By any means, I am not standing up for him but it is very disturbing to know that this confident funny guy, today, is counting days because his fears have taken the top edge. He is scared and doesn’t wish to come back to Australia for the trial as he feels he would be harassed on a foreign land. He is scared that he would not be treated well. He is scared that in Australia no one could ever come to see him. He is scared to spend his next few years in an unfriendly cold environment zone. Let’s take it, for anyone coming from a normal upbringing background, it is a scary picture.

That doesn’t imply that he is to be set free. For the past 5 years, parents of late Dean Hoftsee have been living in the hope of catching the murderer of their son. ‘JUSTICE’ has to be given to the parents who continue to bear the huge loss for the rest of their life. Puneet was not a criminal but he turned himself to become one. The offense he had committed by killing a person in a highly drunken state and then fleeing the country by fraud means makes it of a serious criminal nature. He could have been dealt with empathy if he had shown remorse at some stage before being dramatically caught by police. Today, he is fearing for his life, only, because he understands he has no escape. Understanding that nothing is above law and therefore it will be dealt in a plain hard way it is meant to be; all I wonder is, if there is a way where he can be counselled to deal with his current deep emotions of fear that can make it less difficult for him to face it. To deal in a way where Puneet accepts the punishment, comparatively, with a calmer peace of mind.

Now that it has become a high profile case between 2 countries, it will be important to know how India deals with Puneet and stands in maintaining the informal extradition treaty between Australia and India.