New Delhi:
An Indian nurse accused of killing an Australian woman in Queensland in 2018 was arrested by Delhi Police on Friday.
Rajwinder Singh, 38, allegedly killed Toyah Cordingley, 24, at a beach before fleeing to India. Cordingley, a pharmacy worker, was walking her dog at Queensland’s Wangetti Beach when she was killed. Singh fled Australia two days later, leaving behind his job, wife and three children.
The Queensland Police had offered a reward of 1 million Australian dollars, the largest ever offered by the department, for information leading to Singh’s arrest.
The Australian government, in March 2021, had requested India to extradite Singh. The request was approved in November this year.
Singh lived in Innisfail Town where he worked as a nursing assistant but is originally from Buttar Kalan, Punjab.
Cordingley’s mother Vanessa Gardiner describes her daughter as “beautiful, spiritual”.
“Her life was taken way too early. I see her friends and stuff getting married with kids and that now and think of everything she has missed out on in her life,” Gardiner was quoted as saying a few months ago.
“She was just about to start her first full-time job on Monday, which never happened,” she added.
Cordingley was reported missing on Sunday, October 21, 2018. Her body was found the next morning at Wangetti Beach, just north of Cairns.