Police name victims of Epsom homicide
Police have confirmed the couple who died after a stabbing in Epsom on Friday were 60-year-old Herman Bangera and his wife, 55-year-old Elizabeth Bangera.
Detective Inspector Scott Beard said at a press conference yesterday that a formal investigation and postmortems had been completed.
A man who is related to them remains in hospital under police guard.
At an appropriate time police will formally interview him. Police said they would rely on medical experts to let them know when it was appropriate to interview the third person.
A fourth person at the scene was a close family friend who was called to the scene that morning. Beard said it was a tragedy. ‘‘Two victims here have family – brothers and sisters – rest of the family are struggling. We’re offering a lot of support ‘‘
While inquiries are ongoing, police have spoken to next of kin.
Auckland’s Indian community and Auckland University are devastated by the couple’s deaths.
The University of Auckland – where Elizabeth Bangera worked – was shocked and saddened by the news.
‘‘[She] has been part of our university community for many years, working as a group services co-ordinator in the School of Pharmacy (Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences),’’ spokeswoman Lisa Finucane said. ‘‘She was a highly respected colleague and friend. Support and trauma counselling is available to anyone in the university affected by this tragic incident.’’
Narendra Bhana, president of the Auckland Indian Association, said he did not personally know the dead couple, but said the whole Indian community was devastated by the news.
The Auckland Indian Association was trying to set up a nonviolence programme and Bhana was sad the plans were too late to prevent the Epsom tragedy. ‘‘We are in the middle of developing a non-violence programme at the moment.’’
The programme is being developed because of a need seen in the wider Auckland Indian community –where young people, in particular, are vulnerable to depression and other issues, he said.