Daylesford pub car crash victims named: Pratibha Sharma, daughter Anvi, partner Jatin Chugh and dad

A loving mother who once ran for state parliament, her nine-year old daughter, and her partner have been identified as three of the five victims in the Daylesford pub tragedy at the weekend.

They died alongside a dad an his eldest son.

The two families were good friends and were holidaying together in country Victoria when the horror crash happened.

Pratibha Sharma, 44, her daughter Anvi, 9, and partner Jatin Chugh, 30, were killed after being hit by a BMW at The Royal Daylesford Hotel on Sunday evening.

Vivek Bhatia, 38, and his eldest son were also killed in the smash.

Loved ones have expressed their shock and grief at the death of Ms Sharma, who was a devoted community volunteer, domestic violence advocate and worked as a registered migration agent before recently becoming a lawyer.

Family friend Preet Singh told the Herald Sun Ms Sharma’s death was “incredibly shocking” and a tragedy, given her “promising future”.

“I’m short of words. I can’t really believe this,” Mr Singh said, he was reportedly on his way to Ms Sharma’s Point Cook home to be with her parents in the wake of the tragedy.

“She was so happy, everything was going right for her,” he said.

“She loved her family, her career was going well. She had such a promising future. Life can be tragic. We never know when our time is up.”

Ms Sharma volunteered at Australian Sikh Support, and secretary Gurjit Singh said she was particularly active during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“She would deliver food boxes to people at home in quarantine,” he told the Herald Sun.

He said she was also helpful providing immigration support to people in the community, and added it was a “terrible time for their family”.

In 2018, Ms Sharma ran as an independent candidate for the seat of Werribee and two years later was a candidate for in the Wyndham City Council Elections.

In an article written during her local election campaign, she was described as “courageous” and “compassionate” and “ready to go an extra mile to serve the community”.

According to the article, Ms Sharma was a registered Migration Agent and volunteered for a number of causes, and had been actively involved in social work helping victims of domestic violence.

“She lives with her six-year old daughter and elderly parents and knows the importance of family,” the article reads.

“She is courageous, virtuous and compassionate and has always lent a helping hand to the community when required.”

In June, Ms Sharma was admitted as a lawyer in the Supreme Court of Victoria and wrote on Facebook her family were key to her success.

“I (would) like to thank you everyone for this achievement (...) especially my daughter Anvi who is always been the biggest motivation for me,” she wrote.

Loved ones have left glowing, heartbroken tributes to Ms Sharma, Mr Chugh and young Anvi on social media.

‘Cheeky’ boy among dead

Two members of the Bhatia family, from Tarneit an outer-west Melbourne suburb, also died in the incident.

Vivek Bhatia was remembered as a “good person and a really good father”.

“I am with his parents now and it’s such a big loss,” said Bhupinder Bhullar.

The boy meanwhile was described as “really cheeky”.

Wife and mum Ruchi Bhatia, 36, and the couple’s younger son survived the crash with injuries.

As well as the five killed, five more people were injured when an SUV crashed into the beer garden at The Royal Daylesford Hotel after 6pm on Sunday, hitting customers sitting outside.

Ms Sharma and Mr Chugh reportedly died at the scene, but Anvi later died at hospital.

More Coverage

Several others – including an 11-month-old baby boy – were also injured.

While a heart breaking picture has emerged of the families ripped apart in the nightmare incident, police are still working to establish the connections of the other parties injured in the crash.

The driver of the BMW, a 66-year-old Mount Macedon man, was taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries where he is expected to remain for police to interview him on Tuesday.

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7r7HWrGWcp51jrrZ7zZqroqeelrlwwsicq6iqmZZ8r7HWrGadmamhsrSyzqubZqill3qkrdFmmquZo516t7XCraCmq12jrq6xw2anq5mknq%2BprYysn5qqnZZ6pa3UoJ%2BtnaJirq%2FCyGaYp5xdpa6zwM2eqWaikam2r3vNnq6sZaOpvLPFjnBram6SloBxr5VsaHBwYGyDeILBm5xvbmZohnaElXGZ