Finding into death of Divesh Sharma
Deceased
Divesh Sharma
Demographics
5y, male
Date of death
2012-04-28
Finding date
2015-05-08
Cause of death
unascertained
AI-generated summary
A 5-year-old boy and his sister (3 years old) and mother were killed by their father between 28-29 April 2012 in their Glen Waverley home. The father, who had experienced cognitive impairment and mood changes following a motor vehicle collision in December 2011, appears to have exposed the family to chloroform before suffocating them, then died by suicide. The family had unrecognised history of controlling and isolating behaviours by the father toward the mother. Critical lessons include: healthcare professionals seeing both spouses together may miss disclosure of family violence; family violence—including controlling behaviour—was not recognised; CALD communities may lack understanding of what constitutes family violence under Australian law; and multiple healthcare contacts post-injury provided no screening for suicide risk, homicide risk, or family violence despite cognitive decline and mood changes.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Error types
Drugs involved
Clinical conditions
Contributing factors
- exposure to chloroform
- smothering or suffocation
- father's cognitive impairment following motor vehicle collision
- father's mood changes and headaches post-injury
- father's work-related stress and perceived inability to cope
- unrecognised family violence and control by father over mother
- cultural barriers to disclosure of family violence
- lack of screening for suicide or homicide risk in healthcare encounters
Coroner's recommendations
- Increase awareness among police and family violence services of their role in addressing family violence within CALD communities to build trust and encourage help-seeking
- Provide clear, reliable information to CALD communities in a culturally appropriate way about what constitutes family violence under Australian law, including controlling and isolating behaviours
- Implement Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) provision of information to newly arrived migrants about the Australian legal system, including family violence-specific information
- Fund increased CALD-specific services at magistrates' courts
- Develop education programs for faith leaders given their position as role models in CALD communities
- Implement programs targeting international students on family violence and legal protections
- Provide education for newly arrived migrants through consulate offices and settlement providers
- Deliver culturally appropriate training for staff of organisations working with victims of family violence at point of crisis
- Engage CALD communities in changing behaviour and attitudes to reinforce gender equality
- Engage CALD media outlets to convey prevention messages on an ongoing basis
- Establish language-specific men's behaviour change groups for non-English speaking men of CALD backgrounds
- Improve systems to share information across sectors where men are identified as at risk to others
- Implement primary prevention strategies within CALD communities to prevent violence before it occurs through state and commonwealth government action
- Increase state and commonwealth funding for culturally appropriate family violence service delivery
Full text
Related cases
Source and disclaimer
This page reproduces or summarises information from publicly available findings published by Australian coroners' courts. Coronial is an independent educational resource and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of any coronial court or government body.
Content may be incomplete, reformatted, or summarised. All court orders for redaction and non-publication are respected; documents with technically defective redaction have been excluded from the database entirely. Always refer to the original court publication for the authoritative record.
Copyright in original materials remains with the relevant government jurisdiction. AI-generated summaries and tagging are for educational purposes only, may contain inaccuracies, and must not be treated as legal documents. We welcome feedback for correction —