Man jailed for killing exwife; pair speak of feeling of guilt

CHRISTCHURCH: Innocent bystanders who tried to save a woman from a frenzied street stabbing have spoken about their feelings of guilt and helplessness at being unable to save her life.

Two people stopped to try to help Keshni Naicker (28), who was being attacked by her knifewielding exhusband in Christchurch on September 15 this year.

They saw Shiu Prasad (52) chasing his petrified and bleeding former wife down Ilam Rd before she tripped and fell and he repeatedly plunged a large knife into her.

Prasad was yesterday sentenced in the High Court at Christchurch to life imprisonment with minimum nonparole period of 13 years.

The court heard how he had married Ms Naicker in 2013 but became enraged after she left him earlier this year.

The couple had been living in Christchurch but on September 8 had an argument, which led to Ms Naicker moving out of the marital home. The next day, the resthome worker told Prasad it was over.

Unknown to Prasad, Ms Naicker had met Asveen Sharan (31) online in January.

After September 9, Prasad repeatedly asked Ms Naicker if she was in a relationship with another man, which she denied.

On the afternoon of September 15, Prasad spotted his exwife and Mr Sharan walking together near the Bush Inn shopping mall.

That night, Prasad took a kit chen knife and stationed himself outside Ms Naicker’s work, waiting for her shift to finish.

While he waited Mr Sharan showed up to walk his partner home. But as they started walking along Ilam Rd, Prasad ran up behind them and stabbed Ms Naicker in the back. He then stabbed the new boyfriend in the head.

Mr Sharan fell to the ground and Prasad stabbed him another four times.

Mr Sharan started fighting back and told Ms Naicker to run for it.

A 29yearold student was driving to the supermarket with a friend, when she passed the scene.

Ms Naicker was screaming and tried to get into the back of their car as Prasad chased her.

But the good Samaritans could not unlock the doors quickly enough and Ms Naicker ran towards the intersection with Hanrahan St before she tripped and fell — about 80m from where the attack began.

Prasad stabbed her in what was described as a ‘‘frenzied assault’’.

Ms Naicker, who received six ‘‘substantial’’ stab wounds, died in the ambulance at the scene while paramedics worked on her.

The pair who stopped to help said yesterday they remembered wiping blood from her face as she lay there dying and felt guilty that they could not unlock the car and save her life.

In the middle of the night, they regularly phoned each other ‘‘crying, often no words’’. — NZME