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Patiala girl makes it to Victoria Police
A 27-year-old girl from Patiala, Roopam Preet Kaur Sodhi, has been commissioned into Victoria Police in Australia. Roopam reportedly is the first Punjabi girl to make it to the Australian police. Her nine-month long training came to an end on Saturday with the passing-out parade. A resident of YPS road colony of the city, Roopam went to Australia in November 2005 on a student visa and then got the Australian citizenship.
A 27-year-old girl from Patiala, Roopam Preet Kaur Sodhi, has been commissioned into Victoria Police in Australia. Roopam reportedly is the first Punjabi girl to make it to the Australian police.
Her nine-month long training came to an end on Saturday with the passing-out parade. A resident of YPS road colony of the city, Roopam went to Australia in November 2005 on a student visa and then got the Australian citizenship.
She completed her diploma in management and took up the job of a teacher at a college in Melbourne, before qualifying for police examination in 2010.
She will be posted at a police station in Melbourne as a constable. “I had never thought of joining the police. I only wanted a government job and took the test. I cleared the test with good marks. Clearing the physical fitness test was not a problem for me since Punjabis are physically strong,” Roopam told Hindustan Times over phone from Melbourne.
“But, now, after undergoing the training, I can’t think of any other job for myself,” Roopam added.
Elated over his daughter’s success, Roopam’s father HS Sodhi, who is a manager in Punjab and Sind Bank, said that it was possible because of his daughter’s hard work and blessings of God. Sodhi, who attended the final parade of Roopam in Melbourne on Saturday, told Hindustan Times that he was all the more happy because this has been achieved by his daughter and not son.
“Since Roopam has proved herself in a foreign country, I am feeling proud,” he said. In Patiala, Roopam studied at Budha Dal School and Guru Nanak Dev Foundation School.
Roopam’s maternal uncle, Pushpinder Singh Bhandari, who hails from Muktsar, said the family was planning a grand party once Roopam’s parents are back from Melbourne.
