Wheel of life turns for cabbie and new wife

Tauranga taxi driver Dev Sangha and his new wife Amar will today mark the fifth anniversary of the brutal death of Mr Sangha's first wife and daughter by spending time in prayer. Photo / John Borren

Dev Sangha has finally found happiness and a reason to live.

Today marks the fifth anniversary of the day his first wife Ravneet Sangha and his beloved 2-year-old daughter Anna were brutally murdered at the couple's Ngatai Rd home.

The killer was the Sangha's boarder Deepak Nagpal.

Ravneet Sangha was stabbed more than 100 times, while Anna was stabbed and cut 10 times before her body was put in the family's washing machine.

Nagpal, who pleaded guilty to two counts of murder, was sentenced to two concurrent life terms, with a minimum non-parole period of 20 years.

In the years since their deaths, Mr Sangha, 42, said he lapsed into deep depression, struggled to hold down a full-time job, and ultimately lost his home, his taxi business and his desire to go on.

"There was a time I didn't think I could continue to live as I lived for my first wife and my daughter Anna. They were my whole world," he said.

Dev's 2-year-old daughter Anna.

Five years on, the self-employed taxi driver has finally found happiness with a new love, meeting his second wife Amar while visiting his family in India in 2011, where he was introduced to her by his cousin.

"All my friends and family had been encouraging me to remarry but most of the women I was meeting were far too young and then I met Amar and I knew she was the one.

"I wanted to marry someone who respected me and was strong enough to deal with what happened to me. I didn't want to hide my past from Amar and told her straight away.

"I told Amar that I would always love my first child and probably couldn't love another kid the way I had loved Anna, who was extra special. Ravneet and Anna will always be somewhere in my heart and it never goes away," Mr Sangha said.

Amar, 30, said she had been married before and life in India became a huge struggle after her divorce. She too had lapsed into depression.

"When Dev told me about what happened to his wife and daughter, I was very shocked. He had obviously faced so many problems in his life and I was also struggling myself but I knew straight away he was the right guy for me, " she said.

The couple married on December 12, 2012, in India at a family temple and celebrated their marriage with a small family function.

But Mr Sangha said bringing his new bride back to live in New Zealand and gaining residency for her was an uphill battle until then Immigration Minister Nikki Kaye intervened.

"We are so grateful to the community for their support and to Ms Kaye," the couple said.

Mrs Sangha was granted New Zealand residency on November 28, 2013, and arrived in New Zealand on December 3, 2013. The couple have set up home in central Tauranga.

Financially it's been a struggle but the Sanghas say they couldn't be happier.

Last month he managed to buy another taxi and restarted his business and his wife works the "graveyard shift" at Mount Maunganui McDonalds.

Mr Sangha said they are planning to have their first child.

"But we're leaving it in God's hands. He will be the one who decides when the time is right. It doesn't matter whether it's a boy or girl but they definitely have to want to be an elite cricketer."

Mr Sangha is a cricket coach and also skipper of the Tauranga's R&A Sangha Cricket Club, which hosts the annual North Island Indian Cricket tournament at Ferguson Park, Matua. The club bears Ravneet and Anna's name.

Today the couple plan to say a prayer for Ravneet and Anna at their home, and then will spend time at a Sikh temple in Oropi.