New Zealand homicide: Punjab-origin youth sentenced to life imprisonment for murder of law student

New Zealand homicide: Kanwarpal Singh, 30-year-old Punjabi-origin man has been convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for 17 years for the murder of a law student Farzana Yakubi, in New Zealand. 

During his hearing in the court for the brutal killing of a law student, Kanwarpal Singh said, “I killed someone’s daughter even though she was not on good terms with me, I was dumb. She was dumb. But I’m a good guy. I don’t deserve to spend the rest of my life in jail.”

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As the court found Kanwarpal Singh’s statement as ‘no remorse for his crime,’ the court sentenced Singh to life imprisonment. 

Notably, Kanwarpal Singh was not only found guilty of the homicide of the law student but was also accused of stalking, harassing cases and was illegally living in New Zealand on deportation notice. 

New Zealand homicide case 

The New Zealand homicide case pertains to December last year when AUT law student Farzana Yakubi was brutally murdered by Punjabi-origin man Kanwarpal Singh in broad daylight when she was returning back to her home from work. 

Kanwar attacked Yakubi with a knife and stabbed several times on her chest and stomach until she fell to the ground and died on the spot. 

By the time people gathered and reached the crime scene, Kanwar fled from the place. 

As per the post-mortem and investigation, 12 wounds were spotted on Yakubi's body.

How Kanwarpal Singh met Farzana Yakubi? 

Law student Farzana Yakubi and her parents fled to New Zealand as refugees from Afghanistan. Meanwhile, Kanwarpal Singh, a resident of Punjab was staying in New Zealand illegally. 

Kanwarpal Singh first met Farzana Yakubi in September 2020 in Queen Street where Kanwar worked as a security guard and Yakub occasionally used to visit Queen Street. 

Punjabi-origin youth tried to connect with Yakubi and they both started meeting on coffee dates. 

Both also connected on social media platforms but after some issues and fights, Yakubi blocked Kanwarpal on his social media accounts which displeased Kanwar. 

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During 2021 and 2022, Kanwarpal created new accounts in different names and tried to contact Yakubi and also harass her and stalk her.