Australia, Monika Chetty, 39 yrs old, acid attack victim, died 31 Jan, 2014, West Hoxton, no arrests, NSWPOL reward offered.

[PrimeSuspect]

The NSW Government has announced a $500,000 reward for information over the 2014 suspicious death of a woman in Sydney’s south-west.

About 7.20pm on Friday 3 January 2014, officers from Liverpool City Police Area Command were called to Ferraro Crescent, West Hoxton, following reports of a woman needing assistance.

On arrival, police located a 39-year-old woman in nearby bushland, suffering extensive burns to her face and body.
She was taken to Liverpool Hospital before being transferred to Concord Hospital a few days later.
Despite medical treatment, the woman passed away in hospital on Friday 31 January 2014. She was formally identified as Monika Chetty.

Detectives from Liverpool City Police Area Command are continuing to investigate the circumstances surrounding her death under Strike Force Lanlo.

A $500,000 NSW Government reward has been announced for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for Ms Chetty’s death.

Minister for Police and Emergency Services, David Elliott, said the $500,000 reward into Ms Chetty’s suspicious death was a significant announcement that could hopefully assist investigators with information.

“It’s been more than six years since Monika Chetty’s suspicious death shocked the community and we all want to find out how such a crime could have happened,” Mr Elliott said.
“On behalf of the NSW Government, I hope this reward will help in some way to find those responsible so her family can get the much-needed answers.”

Liverpool City Police Area Commander, Superintendent Adam Whyte, said he hoped the reward announcement could prompt those who may be withholding information to come forward.

“Monika Chetty suffered a horrible death and we want to make sure the persons who inflicted this pain are brought to justice,” Supt Whyte said.

“Our detectives have been continuing to investigate the circumstances surrounding her death and we’re hoping that this reward can prompt people who may have that vital information to come forward.”

Ms Chetty’s son, Daniel Chetty, said it had been hard to not have the answers about his mother for more than six years.

“It has been really hard not having my mum here for special occasions and milestones,” Mr Chetty said.

“There has to be someone out there who has information that can help investigators – I urge them to come forward so we can find out why my mother was taken from us.”

The $500,000 reward can be paid for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for Ms Chetty’s death.

Anyone with information that may assist Strike Force Lanlo investigators is urged to contact Crime Stoppers: 1800 333 000 or https://nsw.crimestoppers.com.au. Information is treated in strict confidence. The public is reminded not to report crime via NSW Police social media pages.

Suspicious death of Monika Chetty - NSW Police Public Site

www.police.nsw.gov.au

This is a tragic case of bystander effect where Monika could have been saved but people turned a blind eye to her suffering as she walked the streets.
I hope justice will be served soon, someone very close to Monika is responsible for her torture and death.

 

[PrimeSuspect]

The Inquest findings into Monika Chetty's death.

Manner of death: Ms Chetty's death was the result of homicide by a person or persons unknown.

https://coroners.nsw.gov.au/documents/findings/2024/Inquest_into_the_death_of_Monika_Chetty.pdf

 

[PrimeSuspect]

Acid attack victim Monika Chetty likely died protecting attacker, inquest finds​

Today an inquest found that Chetty likely knew her attacker or attackers and was protecting them before she died.
Chetty had been dealing with personal issues before her passing.

She had battled cancer, was homeless, living in bushlands and believed to be involved in a visa scam.
Her family said they had noticed bandaged burns on her body in the two years leading up to her death, but she would blame the injuries on cooking or her car radiator.
Coroner Elaine Truscott urged detectives from the unsolved homicide squad not to give up on the murder mystery.

Acid attack victim Monika Chetty likely died protecting attacker, inquest finds

An inquest into the murder of acid attack victim Monika Chetty has found she likely died protecting her at...

www.9news.com.au

Mum of three’s agonising murder from acid burns baffles police​

She became involved in fake visa scam, was homeless and slept in her car before losing that too. At the time of her death she was sleeping in bushland.

More than $184,000 flowed into Ms Chetty’s bank accounts between August 2010 and December 2013, but she was increasingly desperate for cash, often asking her ex-husband, her sister Mohini Prasad, her father, and friends for loans.

....
Ms Chetty told police she had been in Bigge Park in Liverpool, in the city’s south west, when a person who was aggravated because she wouldn’t give them money poured acid on her.
But police told the inquest they did not believe her version of events that it was a random attack.

https://www.news.com.au/national/nsw-act/courts-law/mum-of-threes-agonising-murder-from-acid-burns-baffles-police/news-story/7568647b2c646ea7ae4ba5beb1c6d3dd

 

[PrimeSuspect]

Some very interesting findings -

“Anniversary. 1 month 2day we begin messaging,” Monika Chetty wrote in her diary on January 24, 2010.
The man whose first text she was so eager to remember she knew as “Nick Cha”.
But she also called him “baby”, over and over, in the pages where she recorded her hopes, mundanities and anxieties.
In diary excerpts tendered in court this week, Ms Chetty wrote of how much she loved and missed “baby”.

But Nick Cha’s story unravelled on close examination, according to the police who searched Ms Chetty’s diary for clues after her brutal death in January 2014.
Their inquiries revealed Nick Cha’s number was activated on Christmas Eve 2009, the same day Ms Chetty received that first text.
It was registered to a “Miss Nick Cha”, whose date of birthday was August 29, 2010, the court heard.
These and other inquiries led police to believe Nick Cha never existed — and that he was created for the purpose of manipulating and controlling Ms Chetty in the years before she died.

In 2012 and 2013, the court heard, people began to observe Ms Chetty suffering strange injuries, including burns to her hands and face. Some said her skin appeared to darken.

Mr Chetty said she was burned, covered up and basically unrecognisable when he saw her in September 2012.

Ms Melis said more than $184,000 flowed into Ms Chetty’s bank accounts between August 2010 and December 2013, but she was increasingly desperate for cash, often asking Mr Chetty, her sister Mohini Prasad, her father, and friends for loans.


Ms Chetty had developed a close relationship with Sadma Begum, the co-owner of Fairfield pawn store Smart Cash Loans with her husband Ion Olariu and with Ms Begum’s daughter Mosmeen Mohammed, who resided in West Hoxton with husband Chris Farras, the court heard.

She wore heavy clothes — trackpants, a huge hoodie, a beanie — that concealed most of her injuries from the public.

In the days before she was found in bushland, Ms Chetty stayed at Ms Mohammed’s West Hoxton home, sleeping on the veranda, the court heard.

Ms Mohammed and Ms Begum gave her food and dressed her burns.

After discovering Ms Chetty in bushland, police spoke to Ms Begum and Ms Mohammed, who said she was a homeless woman who had come to their door about three days ago.

“So this woman has been living on your front porch with the injuries she has, using your hose as a shower and unable to have a conversation without breaking down and you haven’t contacted the police or paramedics?” one officer asked, according to a police statement tendered in court.

Neither woman answered the question, the court heard.

They later told police the woman they had been looking after was a homeless lady called Nikki Prasad, according to Detective Senior Constable Andrew Booth’s statement.

They said they knew Ms Chetty but had not spoken to her since mid-2013 after an incident in which she threatened Ms Mohammed.

Mr Booth, who took over the investigation in May 2018, presented a detailed analysis of phone records to the court, which he said showed Ms Chetty was in fact in regular contact with the two women up to the time she was found.

In December 2013, Ms Chetty made and received numerous phone calls to numbers registered under the names “Nick Prestons” and “Danny Stenzel”.

Detective Senior Constable Andrew Booth told the court he believed these men were fictitious, and the phones were controlled by Ms Begum and Ms Mohammed.

Mr Booth said the call records suggested whoever was using the “Nick Prestons” and “Danny Stenzel” numbers were contacting Ms Chetty for a reason.

“I believe that they were requiring and pressuring Monika to provide money,” he said.
Mr Booth said Ms Chetty was highly vulnerable and he had come to believe she was manipulated into falling for the fictional Nick Cha.

“The deceased believed this male was the love of her life, regardless of never meeting him and even though some of their discussions included threats of violence,” he wrote.

“I believe that Begum, Mohammed, Farras and Olariu identified this vulnerability and abused it in a way to be financially viable for them all.

“The amount of money the deceased was receiving either through the visa scam or begging was significant yet (she) remained homeless and was lacking assets in every aspect of her life.”

Mr Booth’s statement ends by saying it is still unclear who attacked Ms Chetty.
He wrote he was of the “strong opinion” Ms Begum, Ms Mohammed, Mr Farras and Mr Olariu know more than they are saying.

Ms Mohammed’s barrister Sam Pararajasingham suggested many of the Indian men scammed by Ms Chetty would have a “powerful motive” to cause her harm.
“I accept that,” Mr Booth said.
He agreed none of the scammed men could be completely eliminated.
There remain 129 deposits to Ms Chetty’s bank account that police have never been able to identify, the court heard.
Whatever happened to her, Ms Chetty was unwilling to assist police in her dying days.

Monika Chetty is believed to have gone out and about in the community after receiving her burns, catching a bus 10 times, visiting a Westpac branch to withdraw $870, and begging in a shopping centre and even a hospital lobby. Picture: Supplied by NSW Coroner’s Court

https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/true-stories/monika-chetty-burned-nurses-diary-left-clues-for-police-in-baffling-case/news-story/6b6e231fa49a841070114cddfd4d58e3

( visiting a Westpac branch to withdraw $870,) So where did the money go? She never spent it, it was given to someone else!

It appears to me, that poor Monika was mentally unwell and vulnerable to abusers and conartists. She didn't benefit from the scams, she was writing in her diary about paying rent of $640. to 'Aunty' when she was infact, homeless, lived in a car, until she had no car and slept in the bush. She had slept on the verandah of Ms Mohammed, who never called authorities to help Monika, she needed help, NO ONE helped her!

This mysterious person or persons, used her name, phone and bank account (which she couldn't access) to do scams, so she would be punished, not them! Who lets a friend sleep on the verandah?!

JMO