Questions after killer flees

At a High Court trial in Napier, a jury heard Rathod bashed his wife to death while suffering a paranoid delusion that she was having an extramarital affair.

The escape to India of a former Waipukurau man who admitted bashing his wife to death in 2004 has raised fresh questions about border checks and information sharing between government departments.

It has been revealed that former dairy owner Chander Singh Rathod - who fatally beat his wife with a softball bat at the back of their Sunset Dairy on Racecourse Rd - was able to flee back to his country of birth in October after obtaining a new Indian passport.

That was despite Rathod remaining subject to monitoring under the Mental Health (Compulsory Assessment and Treatment) Act nine years after he was committed for psychiatric treatment. He was found not guilty of his wife Suguna Chilamakura's murder on the grounds of insanity.

Television New Zealand reported the High Commission of India issued a new passport to Rathod in December 2009 in accordance with India's passport rules and India's High Commissioner said there was no advice by New Zealand authorities he should not leave the country.

After his trial Rathod was kept in Porirua's Tane Mahuta forensic mental health unit.

Associate Health Minister Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga, who is responsible for mental health issues, declined to comment yesterday, saying through a spokesman the matter was an operational issue and referring Hawke's Bay Today to the Ministry of Health.

Rathod had been living in the community for the past three years since completing rehabilitation, Ministry of Health's director of mental health Dr John Crawshaw said.

He had "no significant concerns" that Rathod would breach his leave conditions. Rathod was in the process of having his "special patient" status removed before he fled, Dr Crawshaw said.

Rathod's departure came a month before another killer, Phillip Smith, fled overseas.

Smith flew to South America while on temporary release from Spring Hill Corrections Facility in Waikato.

He was captured in Rio de Janeiro and the incident raised questions about the adequacy of border checks for those leaving New Zealand.

The new revelations that Rathod had earlier skipped the country have alarmed the Sensible Sentencing Trust. Spokesman Jock Jamieson said Rathod should have been "red flagged" before he boarded a plane.

It was reported there was no alert on Customs' computer systems to flag that Rathod should not leave the country.

Dr Crawshaw said steps had since been taken so that special patients on long leave from hospital would be detected at the border as the ministry had provided relevant information to police and other government agencies.

An information sharing arrangement was being investigated with the Department of Internal Affairs to prevent passports being issued to special patients.

Special patients assessed as being a flight risk would now have to surrender travel documents as a condition of being granted leave from hospital, Dr Crawshaw said.

"The ministry's intention is to ensure there is a layered approach so that no single factor is relied upon, in order to prevent this happening again."

During his 2005 High Court trial in Napier, a jury heard Rathod bashed his wife to death while suffering a paranoid delusion that she was having an extramarital affair.

An earlier armed robbery of the dairy was suggested as a possible catalyst for his depression and illness leading up to the attack.

Police said they found no evidence his wife, a veterinarian, had had an affair.

A trial in 2004 had barely started when Rathod collapsed, and the hearing was abandoned after he was assessed as medically unfit to continue his defence.

A second trial ended with a hung jury before Rathod was eventually found not guilty on the grounds of insanity in 2005.

Central Hawke's Bay Mayor Peter Butler said he didn't want Rathod to return to his district.

"We don't need types like him living in Central Hawke's Bay. We don't want him back in Waipukurau."