Murdered Indian woman and daughter in New Zealand farewelled in same coffin

Tauranga (New Zealand), June 12(ANI): Murdered 32-year-old Indian woman Ravneet Sangha and her 18-month-old daughter Anna were farewelled cradling each other in the same coffin at Pyes Pa Crematorium chapel in Tauranga, New Zealand, on Friday.

More than 500 people attended the funeral, and were overwhelmed with grief at their premature deaths.

Ravneet was found dead in a house in Otumoetai, a Tauranga suburb, on Sunday evening, while Anna's body was found on Tuesday afternoon- almost 20 hours later - as it had been concealed in the house.

The family of Dev Sangha, Ravneet's husband and Anna's father, said that he was inconsolable at the service.

Dev had been holidaying in India when he was informed about her death and, initially, the disappearance of their daughter Anna.

Politicians, taxi drivers and workers from the local orchards joined members of the Sikh community to support Dev.

Police have charged Deepak Nagpal, a 23-year-old of Indian descent, as the prime accused in Ravneet's murder.

He appeared in the Tauranga District Court on Thursday, and was remanded in custody until June 25.

Meanwhile, Tauranga Sikh Society Secretary Purdeep Singh Banwait said that the mystery of what caused the deaths was troubling to their community.

"Unless you had lived in that home you would not know. [Nagpal] had been there for a year and a half, and they trusted him. It is a mystery," The New Zealand Herald quoted Banwait, as saying.

"He was one of us. They thought they knew him, and that he was caring," he added. (ANI)