More than a month after a collision in a Perth shopping centre carpark claimed the life of 19-year-old Indian international student Komalpreet Kaur, a teenager has been charged with careless driving causing death.
Western Australia Police charged the 19-year-old Forrestfield man on Saturday, 21 June, after an investigation by the Major Crash Investigation Section into the incident at Bentley Plaza on Albany Highway on 16 May 2026. The accused is due to appear before the Armadale Magistrates Court on 3 July.
Kaur was hit by a blue Hyundai i30 in the Bentley Plaza carpark around 11.30 pm and became trapped under the vehicle. Bystanders rushed to assist. Witnesses said a group of about 10 to 12 people worked together to lift the car while others contacted emergency services. A bystander started CPR before paramedics arrived. Kaur was taken to Royal Perth Hospital with critical injuries and later died.
Police had earlier stated that the driver and Kaur knew each other. Witnesses reported that the young man pleaded for an ambulance at the scene.
Kaur had arrived in Australia from Punjab’s Ludhiana district just 11 months before her death. She moved to Perth in July 2025, the eldest of three siblings, hoping to build a career and future for herself and her family. Her father, Amrik Singh, is a retired Subedar of the Indian Army from Raikot.
She was studying community services at Stanley College and working part-time. Like many Indian international students in Australia, she was here on loans taken by her family back home.
Friends described her as warm and positive. “She was charming, always smiling. She filled our lives with happiness,” friend Sakshi Rupal told media after the crash.
A GoFundMe page set up in her memory raised over A$82,000, exceeding its original A$50,000 target. The funds were meant to cover funeral costs and repatriation of her body to India. Her family had not yet repaid the loans taken to send her to Australia, and bringing her home added an estimated A$14,000. Kaur’s family appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Droupadi Murmu for help with repatriation costs, citing her father’s army service. Kaur is survived by her parents, an 18-year-old sister and a 14-year-old brother.
Under Section 62 of the Road Traffic Act 1974 (WA), careless driving causing death carries a maximum penalty of three years imprisonment or a fine of 720 penalty units, plus a mandatory minimum licence disqualification of three months. It is less serious than dangerous driving causing death, which carries up to 20 years under Section 59.
The distinction depends on the degree of departure from the standard of a careful driver, a matter the court will consider at the Armadale Magistrates Court hearing on 3 July. WA Police’s Major Crash Investigation Section continues to examine the crash circumstances.
The death of Komalpreet Kaur affected Perth’s Indian community in May and drew grief from Indian students and families across Australia. Her case highlights concerns about the safety of young Indians studying here, often living alone, working late shifts and far from family support.
The wider situation is familiar to those following Indian student welfare in Australia: students arriving on tight budgets, working to meet living costs and adjusting to a new country. For families in India, news of such a tragedy brings not only grief but the collapse of plans funded by loans and travel.
