Venkat Raman
Auckland, February 17, 2022
We are sorry to report the death of 33-year-old Dr Sridevi Ravi at the Invercargill Hospital early this morning (February 17, 2021)
Sridevi was diagnosed with lung cancer recently and her condition worsened yesterday. She has no relatives in New Zealand.
The Wellington-based Aotearoa New Zealand Federation of Tamil Sangams (ANTS) President Raveen Annamalai and Indian Newslink have been coordinating efforts with the Indian High Commission in Wellington and the Indian communities to render all possible assistance to the grieving family.
Mr Annamalai said that Dr Sridevi was the only child of her parents who live in Tiruchirappalli in Tamil Nadu.
A brilliant academic record
A topper in both Bachelor of Science and Master of Science from PSG College of Arts and Science, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry India, Dr Sridevi arrived in New Zealand in 2015 to pursue her PhD in Applied Science at AUT in Auckland.
She obtained her Doctorate in 2019 and moved to Invercargill about six months ago as a Casual Lecturer at the Southern Institute of Technology.
Her parents in India consented to the body being cremated in New Zealand.
Mahesh Babu Purushothaman, Lecturer (Future Environments) at AUT, Auckland, flew to Invercargill this morning. He represented the Auckland-based Tamil Association of New Zealand Inc (TANSI) and ANTS in providing support to Murihiku Southland District Multicultural Council President Shelly Ballantine and Dr Sridevi’s Partner Vinay.
They organised Dr Sridevi’s final rites and then had the body cremated at the Southland Crematorium in Invercargill.
