Punjabi jailed for wife’s murder in NZ

Melbourne, September 29

A 29-year-old Indian origin man has been sentenced to life for stabbing his wife to death in New Zealand earlier this year.

Mandeep Singh pleaded guilty of killing his 22-year-old wife Parmita Rani and attempting to murder her friend Parminder Sandhu on May 22 this year, New Zealand Herald reported.

Auckland High Court Judge Mark Woolford set the parole period for Singh to a minimum of 13 years, after which he will be deported back to India. Rani and Singh had been having marital issues and Singh believed that his wife had formed a friendship with Sandhu.

Singh bought knives and stabbed her to death. He also attacked Sadhu who wrestled the knife from the defendant and rushed over to Rani, who was bleeding from a wound that had severed an artery, a vein and her airway. While he bent over her, Singh pulled another knife out and viciously attacked Sandhu - the man he believed his wife had left him for. The knife wound punctured his lung and was saved by member of the public who intervened and restrained Singh.

According to the court order, Singh will serve a concurrent sentence of eight and a half years for the attempted murder of Sandhu. The couple married in 2013 and Singh followed Rani to New Zealand as a dependent. They were in the process of renewing their visa permits when the murder took place. —PTI