The family came home to find their house had been ransacked.
Photo by
Contributed
A Shepparton family returned home from holidays to find a stranger sitting in their loungeroom smoking, eating pizza and watching television.
Hold tight - we’re checking permissions before loading more content
Sanjay Kuikel and Nilima Gautan and their two young children made the shock discovery on May 3 on their return home from a trip to Nepal to visit family who had health issues.
It was 7.30pm, cold, the two children were a bit sniffly, and all the family wanted to do was get inside and relax.
“I opened the door and there was shock,” Dr Kuikel said.
“A guy was there. I said ‘what are you doing?’. He said ‘I live here’.”
Police were called and the family had to stay with friends for the night while the matter was dealt with.
Items not belonging to the family — including grocery items — had been brought into the home.
Dr Kuikel said the man and another man had been back to the house “four or five times” since.
The family have since had to move out of the rental property they had been in for only about two months.
They needed the police to help them move so they could take all their belongings with them.
The belongings that were still there, that is.
The family found a stranger in their home eating pizza and watching television.
Photo by
Contributed
Dr Kuikel said jewellery — including precious wedding jewellery his wife had been gifted by her father, who has since died, on their wedding day — had been taken.
Other valuables, all of their blankets and a lot of clothing — both the adults’ and children’s — had also been taken from the house while they were away.
Electric kitchen appliances, their glasses and some of their “good plates” are gone.
The family are currently living in temporary accommodation.
Dr Kuikel, who is a junior doctor at Goulburn Valley Health, said he believed the man and other people had been inside their house since April 15, as the electricity had spiked then.
He also said he believed there were several people who had been staying there.
The family only moved to Shepparton from Darwin in August because they were “looking for a safer place” to live.
He said they had hoped to live in Shepparton “for years and years” but now the future looked uncertain.
“This has made me feel scared and afraid for my family,” he said.
“Sometimes I work late, or get called to go to the hospital late at night.
“My wife has been a bit traumatised.
“Nobody thinks this would happen to them.
“It’s a hugely horrifying experience.”
Police confirmed that they were investigating an alleged burglary, theft and criminal damage at a house in Balaclava Rd.
“It’s understood the alleged offender gained entry to the Balaclava Rd house while the occupants were away,” police said.
A 47-year-old man of no fixed address was arrested and taken to the police station where he was later released.
It is expected that he will be charged on summons.
Police said they were aware the accused man returned to the vicinity of Balaclava Rd on May 9 and 10 and was subsequently arrested and charged with breaching an intervention order.
The man has been bailed to appear at Shepparton Magistrates’ Court on Friday, May 16.
Police investigations into the matter are continuing.
Dr Kuikel started a GoFundMe page to help the family get back on their feet and replace items that have been stolen.
8°C