WARNING: DISTURBING CONTENT 

A South Auckland man who woke a young girl in the middle of the night then cut her throat with a fish-filleting knife has received a hefty prison term for an attack described by a judge as an “egregious breach of trust”.  

Name suppression lapsed for Rosehill resident Rajesh Kumar, 53, as he appeared before Justice Geoffrey Venning in the High Court at Auckland today after he earlier pleaded guilty to the attempted murder of the child and the kidnapping days earlier of his wife.  

Both offences are punishable by up to 14 years in prison.  

Kumar was ordered to serve a 10-and-a-half-year term - nine years for the attempted murder to be served back-to-back instead of concurrently with an 18-month sentence for the kidnapping. The judge also ordered he serve at least six years before he can apply for parole.  

“She is still suffering from the results of your offending,” Justice Venning told the defendant of the child victim, describing the attack as pre-meditated and “extremely violent and unprovoked”.  

“She should have been entitled to feel safe in her own home.”  

According to court documents, Kumar decided to attack the child after a night of drinking in December 2022, entering her bedroom, nudging her awake about 3am and motioning for her to follow him. 

He led the child to a garage and told her to sit in a chair as he stood in front of her, at which point he told her her father wasn’t who she thought it was. The child attempted to leave, but the defendant ordered her to stay. 

“Without speaking further, the defendant walked behind [the girl] and stood behind her while she was sitting on the seat facing away from him,” court documents state. “He grabbed [the girl] by the hair and pulled her hair backwards, raising her chin and exposing her throat and neck. The defendant then used the knife to slit [her throat].” 

The knife, with a 15cm blade, caused extensive damage - cutting through muscle, exposing her windpipe and cutting her jugular vein. However, the cut narrowly missed her carotid artery and she survived following emergency surgery. 

As the child fell to the floor and began screaming, the defendant tried to muffle her screams by “aggressively” pushing her head down and shoving his fingers in her mouth. Others in the house, however, awoke and intervened. One adult son pulled him away from the child. 

“I’m going to end her life also,” the defendant said as he then walked towards his sleeping wife, the knife still in hand. 

Another adult son grabbed the defendant and didn’t let go until he was able to take the knife from his father, who then fled the house. Still wearing blood-stained clothes and with a rope wrapped around his neck, the defendant was later arrested without incident in Thames, Coromandel. 

A week before the throat-cutting incident, the defendant had kidnapped his wife - threatening to stab her if she didn’t get in the vehicle in which he had been following after she left their house on foot. Their 20-year marriage had been deteriorating for years, court documents state. 

The kidnapping ended after about six hours, when an adult son intervened to calm the situation. 

“Eventually, the defendant apologised and handed the knife to [his son],” the summary of facts for the case states. “The defendant asked [his wife] and [his son] to keep this incident between them. They agreed and returned to the family home. Police were therefore not notified of this incident at that time.” 

During today’s sentencing, Crown prosecutor Bernadette Vaili argued a minimum term of imprisonment was necessary for Kumar both to hold him accountable for his conduct and to protect the community. 

“It’s very clear that Mr Kumar takes no accountability for his offending,” she said. “He shows no insight, no remorse.” 

The defendant told a pre-sentence report writer he had no memory of the attack, having drunk so heavily that night. But the “gratuitous” offending, Vaili said, was clearly “a series of calculated decisions”. 

Defence lawyer Kelly-Ann Stoikoff characterised her client’s memory lapse not so much as an avoidance or responsibility as a fear of coming “face-to-face with a person he never wishes to see”. 

A minimum term of imprisonment wouldn’t be necessary to protect the community, she said, because her client, who moved to New Zealand from Fiji in about 2005, hasn’t held a valid visa for some time. He will most likely be deported immediately after release from prison, she said. 

But the judge decided a minimum term was necessary to hold Kumar accountable “and also to denounce your reprehensible conduct”. 

Craig Kapitan is an Auckland-based journalist covering courts and justice. He joined the Herald in 2021 and has reported on courts since 2002 in three newsrooms in the US and New Zealand. 

FAMILY VIOLENCE 

How to get help: If you're in danger now: • Phone the police on 111 or ask neighbours or friends to ring for you. • Run outside and head for where there are other people. Scream for help so your neighbours can hear you. 
• Take the children with you. Don't stop to get anything else. 
• If you are being abused, remember it's not your fault. Violence is never okay. 
Where to go for help or more information: • Women's Refuge: Crisis line - 0800 REFUGE or 0800 733 843 (available 24/7) 
• Shine: Helpline - 0508 744 633 (available 24/7) 
• It's Not Ok: Family violence information line - 0800 456 450 
• Shakti: Specialist services for African, Asian and Middle Eastern women and children. 
• Crisis line - 0800 742 584 (available 24/7) 
• Ministry of Justice: For information on family violence 
• Te Kupenga Whakaoti Mahi Patunga: National Network of Family Violence Services 
• White Ribbon: Aiming to eliminate men's violence towards women. 
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