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The younger sister of a mother found dead in her home in Vermont has been denied a visa to come to Australia urgently to care for the woman’s two children, who have no other relatives in the country.
Srinivas Achanta, 39, has been charged with the murder of his wife, Lavanya Chappa, 39,after police were called to reports of a stabbing in a Delatite Court house just before 10pm on Tuesday.
Chappa was found dead inside the home, and Achanta was taken to hospital under police guard before homicide detectives formally charged him with one count of murder on Thursday afternoon.
Chappa had a 13-year-old daughter and a seven-year-old son, but family friend Sri Lakshmi Thukral, a solicitor living in Sydney, said an urgent visa application for their Indian aunt, Vijaya, and uncle to be allowed to come to Melbourne to care for their niece and nephew and collect Chappa’s body had been rejected.
“The children were there in the property at the time of the incident, we don’t know what is going on in their minds, there is no family and I wasn’t even allowed to speak to them,” said Thukral.
She had been asked by Chappa’s non-English-speaking parents, who do not have passports, to fly to Melbourne to support their grandchildren and did so on Wednesday.
“I had my ID as a practising solicitor and still, they [protective services] didn’t allow me to visit them.”
Thukral had been assured by officers at the Department of Home Affairs that the children’s aunt and uncle would be allowed to travel from their home in southern India to be with the children, but when they made their application it was rejected immediately.
Chappa had worked as a software engineer and was a “very happy and cheerful soul”, said Thukral. She had been married to Achanta for 20 years and emigrated with him from Singapore in 2025.
Thukral said the dead woman’s family believed that the couple “settled here, bought a house and were living their life happily. This was the picture from her family’s view.”
“She cared for the family and always prioritised her children, loved reading and travelling,” she said.
Thukral returned to Sydney on Friday evening but said she was still trying to help Chappa’s relatives be allowed to travel.
Police said in a statement late on Thursday that: “Two children in the house were not physically injured during the incident.
“Police believe the parties involved were known to each other.”
The alleged murderer appeared in the dock at Melbourne Magistrates’ Court just after 10.30am on Friday.
Magistrate Frances Medina did not read out custody management issues submitted in writing by Achanta’s lawyer, Alex Wolf. She remanded Achanta in custody to appear again for a committal mention on November 7.
A crime scene was set up for much of Wednesday on the usually quiet residential court in Melbourne’s east where the alleged murder took place.
Property records show Srinivas Achanta bought the Delatite Court house where Chappa was found dead for $1.4 million in early 2024.
A LinkedIn profile – believed to be that of the accused – shows he relocated from Singapore to take up a job in Melbourne in February 2024. The account suggests he was originally from India.
Little is known about the victim. Neighbours who spoke to The Age on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitive matter said the family had largely kept to themselves.
One woman said she had seen the mother of two perform school pick-up runs nearby. Another two residents said they had sometimes seen a man and a young boy from the house playing cricket in the street.
The home where the alleged murder occurred had its shutters drawn and was quiet on Thursday after police left the night before.
A child’s chalk drawing remained scrawled on the driveway, and several pairs of shoes could be seen beside the front door.
Brett Czarny, a nearby resident for more than 25 years, said he had found out something was wrong only when he heard police cars fly past late on Tuesday towards the house.
“We never heard from them … We probably did see him drive past occasionally, but never really took much notice,” he said.
“It’s very unfortunate incident that that’s happened … I feel very sad for the family. I believe there’s two kids involved as well, so I feel very sad for them, and obviously the poor lady that has lost her life.”
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Lachlan Abbott is a crime reporter at The Age. He was previously a city reporter and covered breaking news.Connect via email.
Wendy Tuohy is a senior writer focusing on social issues and those impacting women and girls.Connect via X or email.From our partners
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