This was published 7 years ago
Brisbane digs deep to help slain bus driver Manmeet Sharma's family in India
By Cameron Atfield
Brisbane residents have dug deep to help slain bus driver Manmeet Sharma's family, with more than $90,000 raised to be sent back to India.
Mr Sharma, 29, was burnt to death at Moorooka as he was behind the wheel of his Brisbane City Council bus last October, in an unprovoked attack that sent shockwaves through the Australian and Indian communities, right up to the heads of government.
Deputy Mayor Adrian Schrinner was deeply affected by Manmeet Sharma's death.Credit: Lisa Maree Williams
Mr Sharma, known in the Punjabi community as a talented singer, had only been driving Brisbane buses for a few months and had been sending money home to India to assist his family there.
Anthony O'Donohue, 48, has been charged with Mr Sharma's murder and the attempted murder of the 11 passengers on board the route 125 bus.
Brisbane bus driver Manmeet Sharma was killed while on duty in October, 2016.
It was possible his case would be heard in the Mental Health Court.
Deputy mayor Adrian Schrinner, who was deeply affected by Mr Sharma's death in the days after the attack, said he was surprised by the generosity of people who donated to the fund.
The council set up the fund in November, with a $10,000 donation on behalf of ratepayers. As of Thursday, $90,779.20 had been donated to the fund.
"There wasn't any expectation," Cr Schrinner said.
"This is a unique situation and nothing like this has happened before, and this sort of trust hasn't been set up before.
"Ninety thousand dollars is a fantastic response from the community and you expect people to be touched when something like this happens.
"It goes to show how much the city was affected by what happened in October.
"The Brisbane community has a big heart and this shows the size of that heart."
Cr Schrinner, who as the council's public transport chairman oversaw Mr Sharma's employment, said the biggest donation was of about $25,000, which came from the Indian community following a fundraising day.
Fairfax Media revealed on Thursday that the bus in which Mr Sharma died was in the process of being destroyed and its fleet number, S-1980, had been retired.
Donations could still be made to the Manmeet Sharma Trust to Council Customer Service Centres or via direct debit to:
- Account Name: BCC Manmeet Sharma Trust Fund
- BSB: 064 000
- Account Number: 14715982