Mr Boparai is a newspaper editor and community leader based in Brisbane, has helped repatriate many bodies of Indian nationals, who have unfortunately passed away during a visit, a holiday or even while studying in Brisbane as an international student.
"It is really sad when such a thing happens," he told SBS Punjabi, "and the community comes together every single time to help the affected families."
Pointing out the recent case of 22 year old international student Ravneet Gill, who died at a beach near Gold Coast on Christmas Day, Mr Boparai said, "It is heart-breaking to send the body of a young man in a coffin to India, when you know that he must have come here with great dreams and aspirations."
"In this case, the Indian consulate helped with the repatriation costs of sending his body back home to India," said Mr Boparai. But in many other cases, the community has come forth when tragedy has struck.
"At the start the new year, we heard about another new migrant family in Brisbane which faced a terrible tragedy. Their parents had come to visit them from India, but the father suffered a heart attack at night and passed away during his sleep. The family is devastated, as you can imagine. This was meant to be a happy time for them, but instead, its become a horrible tragedy," said Mr Boparai.
"Initially, the body was meant to be sent back home to India for the last rites and funeral, but then the family decided to do the cremation here in Brisbane itself," he said.
But he firmly believes that in cases like this, where visitors buy health insurance from their home country before visiting Australia, the insurance company must pay for the repatriation of the dead body back home.
"People don't think about these things when they buy health insurance for an overseas visit, but I think we must look for insurance companies that will offer this - even if it means paying extra for it."
"I have seen many deaths in Brisbane and have helped repatriate many bodies to India. Far too many new migrants are affected by this. I do believe we should make health insurance companies more accountable in those cases when tragedy strikes suddenly," Mr Boparai said to SBS Punjabi.
This comes at a time, where several families of Indian origin have also been caught out when their family members visiting from overseas, have had to be admitted to hospital for serious illnesses. Several Indian insurance companies have denied claims made by families visiting Australia, and there is a call for people to be more diligent when buying health insurance overseas.
Other news stories and interviews from SBS Punjabi
Tributes flow for Ravneet Singh Gill: Indian youth dies in a drowning incident
