EXCLUSIVE
The heartbroken mother who lost her husband and one of her young twin girls in the horrific train tragedy on Sunday is to return to India for good with her loved ones’ remains.
Anand Runwal, 40, died with his two-year-old daughter, Hinal, after they were struck by a train as he desperately tried to save the twins when their stroller rolled onto the train tracks at Carlton station in Sydney‘s south.
His other daughter Hiya miraculously escaped and was pulled almost unscathed from under the train.
Now devastated mum Poonam Runwal, 39, will fly home to India as early as next week, after she faced deportation from Australia within days over a visa row.
Close friends of the couple told Daily Mail Australia arrangements were already underway to repatriate the bodies for a traditional funeral in Mr Runwal’s childhood hometown of Bijapur.
‘The family wants to bring Anand and Hinal home as soon as possible,’ they said. ‘They’ve started working through the formalities – it’s chaotic and there is so much to be done.
‘But they’ll be leaving as soon as they can so they can hold the funerals back in India.’
Anand Runwal (right) and wife Poonam Runwal with their two-year-old twin daughters
Hinal Runwal (left) was tragically killed in the disaster while twin Hiya miraculously survived
Emergency services and police inspect the scene of the train tragedy in Sydney’s south
The Runwals had been on a family outing and just arrived on the station platform when the twin daughters’ pram rolled onto the train tracks.
Mr Runwal heroically leapt onto the tracks in a bid to lift their pram back onto the platform when he and Hinal were killed by the passing train.
NSW Police Superintendent Paul Dunstan said the parents appeared to have taken their hands off the pram for a ‘very short period of time’ when it rolled towards the tracks.
Supt Dunstan said police were investigating what caused the pram to roll and said it could have been something as simple as a ‘gust of wind’.
The Runwals, who had been together for 14 years, had become well-liked members of their local Kogarah communty since moving to Sydney’s south in October.
Extended family members – including Ms Runwal’s sister and brother-in-law – flew into Australia from India this week to support the widow, who is now abandoning her family’s dream of a new life in Australia.
It is understood Ms Runwal will return to Bangalore, India, in the wake of her husband and daughter’s funerals to be close to family as she tries to her life.
‘This is been such a tragedy and there are now so many sad memories here for Poonam, she won’t be able to come back,’ a family friend said.
Sympathetic locals threw their support for Ms Runwal to be allowed to remain in the country if they decided to stay, after Daily Mail Australia revealed she and her daughter faced deportation in the wake of the tragedy.
The family moved to Sydney from India in October 2023 after Mr Runwal secured a job at an IT firm in North Sydney, with Ms Runwal and the girls listed as dependants on his skilled workers visa.
His visa was due to expire next week and he was in the process of having it renewed. His wife’s visa was reliant on him receiving permission to stay on in Australia.
On Thursday Prime Minister Anthony Albanese backed calls for the family to be allowed to stay in Australia, and urged his Home Affairs Minister to treat Ms Runwal with generosity and compassion.
‘It is a decision, obviously, for the Minister, but it’s my view that matters like this should be dealt with the compassion that Australians would expect,’ Mr Albanese said.
‘This mother has watched as her husband and one of her twin children has tragically lost their life and I would have thought that we’re a generous country and that Australians’ hearts will go out towards this woman and her young child.’
The Department of Home Affairs was unable to comment on the Runwals’ visa issue.
But it is understood officials are aware of the sensitive case and had been in contact with representatives of the family to offer the appropriate assistance.
The family tragedy has sparked an outpouring of emotion, with tributes flowing in from across the country.
But despite being inundated with offers of support, the family pleaded for people to refrain from trying to raise funds to support Ms Runwal online.
Nadeen Ahmed, who runs the Indians in Sydney Facebook group, told Daily Mail Australia the family were extremely worried that unscrupulous internet scammers would seize on the tragedy.
Harrowing CCTV shows a young family’s final moments together before they were ripped apart in an unimaginable tragedy when their pram rolled onto the train tracks
Tributes to the Anand Runwal and his two-year-old daughter Hilal have been left at the station
They feared criminals may try to exploit the deaths by setting up fake fundraising accounts designed to defraud genuine supporters.
‘The family didn’t want anyone to use this tragedy to steal people’s money,’ he said. ‘I don’t think they would be able to handle seeing fake fundraising accounts online.’
Instead, Mr Runwal’s employer, Infosys, has been assisting the family with their ongoing expenses and help them take care of all funeral arrangements.
Ms Runwal is also receiving additional support from Westpac, where her husband worked as an IT consultant provided by Infosys.
NSW premier Chris Minns, who lives within 100m of the station, has said the father died while performing an ‘extraordinary, instinctual act of bravery’.
‘He gave his own life to try and save his children,’ he said.
