The lonely death of young Indian man who was forced to work in slave-like conditions at a restaurant in Sydney’s inner east is one of the most tragic stories a coroner has ever heard.
Manjit Singh arrived in Australia on a 457 temporary visa in February 2006 with hopes of becoming a chef in Australia but was instead forced to work 8am to midnight 7 days a week at Darlinghurst's North Indian Flavour restaurant in appalling conditions.
Mr Singh died on 26 August 2011 in the Intensive Care Unit at Royal North Shore Hospital, from complications following the removal of right his right lung for tuberculosis (TB) some days earlier. He was 33.
In his findings, Deputy State Coroner Magistrate Hugh Dillon compared Mr Singh’s death as a '21st-century retelling' of George Orwell's 'How the Poor Die'.
“[It is] one of the saddest stories that I have encountered in nearly eight years as a coroner,” said Mr Dillon.
