An "obsessive" ex‑boyfriend who stalked and messaged young Auckland mother Arishma Chand has been found guilty of her murder.
Stuff.co reports that Rohit Deepak Singh has been on trial at the High Court in Auckland charged with the murder of Chand, who was found stabbed to death at her south Auckland home in November last year.
Singh and Chand are originally from Fiji.
Today, after less than an hour of deliberation, a jury delivered its verdict finding Singh guilty of murder.
On the morning of November 12th, 2017 Chand was found dead at her home in Manurewa after she had returned home with her boyfriend.
Chand was alive when her partner left at 12.45am, but called her parents soon after saying she was afraid.
Over the course of the trial the court heard how Singh had become "infatuated" with Chand after their relationship ended.
They had become involved in a sexual relationship after she moved in with him after her marriage broke down at the start of 2016.
However, they kept their relationship a secret from Chand's parents until Singh told her father she was pregnant. In July 2016, Chand ended the relationship.
In the year leading up to Chand's death, Singh stalked her, messaged her threatening things, delivered flowers, watched her from borrowed cars and even offered $1000 to a street‑worker to knock on her door. Singh was so obsessed with Chand that he got a tattoo of her face on his chest, and on another occasion messaged her saying he was talking to a picture of her on his wall.
