Response to threats that led to murder ‘inadequate’
Police failed to adequately respond when a 21-year-old AUT law student reported she had been threatened, stalked and harassed by a man who went on to murder her eight weeks later, the police watchdog has found.
On October 25, 2022, Farzana Yaqubi made a 105 online report about 32-year-old Kanwarpal Singh.
On December 19, Singh brutally murdered her in Massey, Auckland. Her complaint was still awaiting further investigation.
Now, the Independent Police Conduct Authority has found police’s response “inadequate”.
The IPCA reviewed the processes followed by police. Crucially, it has dubbed the assessment matrix they used as “not fit for purpose”.
Yaqubi provided police with screenshots of messages Singh was sending her.
She also provided them with information that would have been sufficient to identify the man, the IPCA said. But, Yaqubi’s file sat inactive for six weeks while police waited for her to come to the police station. On December 3, Yaqubi updated her online report, telling police the situation had escalated and that she feared for her life.
Three days later, she went to Henderson police station and gave a formal statement. She was told the file would be forwarded to a station near to where she had told police the man may be living.
On December 19, Singh repeatedly stabbed her – metres from her home. Her police complaint still hadn’t been progressed.
The IPCA said police didn’t adequately take into account the cultural and religious factors that may have influenced how Yaqubi engaged with them, nor did they provide her with appropriate support. Officers also failed to link her file to that of another young girl who was being threatened by Singh.
Singh is serving a sentence of life in prison with a minimum non-parole period of 17 years. He had earlier pleaded guilty to murdering Yaqubi but is is currently appealing the murder charge.
According to Waitematā district commander Superintendent Naila Hassan, police accepted that they missed “several opportunities for earlier intervention. “Police should have acted sooner and provided better support ... For this we apologise. We have also met with Ms Yaqubi’s family to apologise face to face,” Hassan said.