The man accused of setting fire to his wife by the side of road in the Waikato and then fleeing to Fiji has admitted her murder.
Diwesh
Kumar Sharma, 30, admitted murdering 28-year-old Ranjeeta Sharma when
he appeared in the High Court at Hamilton on Monday, the New Zealand
Herald reported.
Mrs Sharma was alive before her husband, of
Indian descent, poured accelerant over her and set her on fire on a
rural road west of Huntly in January last year.
He then fled to Fiji with their four-year-old son but was found by Fiji police and returned to New Zealand.
Sharma
had been expected to defend the murder charge, citing the rare defence
of insanity, in a trial expected to last 10 days, but his guilty plea
meant the trial was not needed.
He will be sentenced on April 3.
Details
of the reasons behind the killing have not been revealed, but there was
initial speculation it was an honour killing. However, that was
rejected by the Indian community.
NZN