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A mother has been left 'utterly alone' after her husband killed their six-year-old daughter and then drowned himself in a Sydney waterway over the weekend.
Maulik Dhandhukia, 47, rented a boat with his daughter near Concord, in the city's inner west, on Saturday.
His body was found floating in the Parramatta River just before midday.
Police spent seven hours searching for the girl in the hope she might be found alive, but emergency services pulled her body from the river about 5.30pm.
It is understood Dhandhukia had rented a boat multiple times in the week leading up to the murder-suicide, including on one occasion with his wife, Pritiben Dhandhukia.
CCTV from a nearby property showed Dhandhukia throwing his daughter overboard before jumping into the river himself. Neither could swim.
A suicide note was found on the boat at the scene.
The reason for the tragedy is unclear, but two weeks ago Dhandhukia blamed chronic neck pain for '90 per cent of the problems I face in life', in a post on social media.
Maulik Dhandhukia, 47, died with his daughter (pictured together) in a suspected murder-suicide on Saturday
The girl is pictured at Sydney Harbour with her mother, Pritiben
Family friends created a fundraiser for Pritiben on Monday.
It read: 'I am writing to ask for your help for a woman who has just lost everything that mattered most to her.'
'Her beloved husband and her cherished daughter - her entire family, her whole reason for getting up each morning - were taken from her.
'The home that was once full of love and laughter is now silent and Pritiben, who gave her heart to her family every single day, has been left utterly alone.
'None of us can bring back what she has lost. But we can make sure she doesn't have to grieve while also lying awake at night worrying about money.'
According to the fundraiser, the funds will go towards memorial expenses, cultural funeral rites, travel and accommodation costs for immediate family.
Just two weeks ago, on June 3, Dhandhukia wrote a lengthy Facebook post about his chronic neck pain triggered by a gym injury in 2005.
He wrote: 'Hi friends, I want to give one [piece of] advice to everyone - please be very careful while doing weight-related exercises in gym.'
The father rented a boat multiple times in the week leading up to the murder-suicide, including one occasion with his wife (Emergency services at Parramatta River are pictured)
CCTV footage from a nearby property captured him throwing the girl overboard before jumping into the river himself
Dhandhukia said he was a regular gym-goer who always warmed up correctly and gradually increased his weights.
He took a week off and didn't warm up properly, and ended up with bulging C3-C4 discs, the cartilage which sits between the third and fourth vertebrae in the neck.
'Since then I have been having on and off neck pain which has now lasted for 21 years,' he wrote.
MRIs years later confirmed he had nerve compression down his cervical spine.
He revealed that he originally had permanent residency in Canada, but he knew his neck would react badly to the cold.
'To summarise, maybe 70 per cent to 90 per cent of the problems that I faced in my life were due to this neck pain,' he wrote.
'Please be very very careful while doing weight-related exercises in gym, as if you get a gym weights-related injury then it can take a very long time to heal.'
Dhandhukia started working as an analyst in application support for the South Eastern Sydney Local Health District in 2022.
Just two weeks ago, Maulik Dhandhukia wrote a social media post about his chronic neck pain (pictured)
Prior to that, he worked in business development for a range of software companies in Australia and India.
His first government job in Australia was as a developer for eHealth NSW between 2018 and 2020.
NSW Police told the Daily Mail Dhandhukia was not known to authorities and there were no apprehended violence orders in place.
Superintendent Christine McDonald told media on Saturday: 'This is an absolute tragedy for the family and the community on every level.'
'Obviously a mother in this situation who knows that her husband is now deceased...it would rock any mother to the core.'
She said police would investigate whether family violence was involved.
'There are several lines of inquiry currently under way,' she said.
'But can I say from the outset, this is an absolute tragedy for the family and the community on every level. We will leave no stone unturned.'
Anyone with information is urged to contact Burwood police or Crime Stoppers.
If this has raised any issues for you, call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue 1300 224 636 for confidential crisis support.
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