Burnt-alive suspect expected to be a priest

Diwesh Sharma. Photo / Supplied

The husband of an Auckland woman burnt to death is the son of a Hindu high priest and was nearly deported from New Zealand for overstaying, Herald inquiries reveal.

Diwesh Kumar Sharma, 29, was last night being held by police in Fiji after he and his 4-year-old son were found early yesterday. New Zealand police are expected to fly to Fiji in the next few days to question Mr Sharma over the death of his wife Ranjeeta Sharma, 28, who was burned alive near Huntly last week.

An immigration adviser said Mr Sharma - a courier driver in Auckland who is also known as Daniel - is the son of a priest who used to work at the Auckland Satsang Ramayan Mandli, a Hindu religious organisation.

"I know the boy and his wife well, and I know the father and the family well ... so it is an absolute shock that this has happened," he said.

"Diwesh has been asked many times by the father to also become a priest, but he has decided to choose a different path."

Mr Sharma came to New Zealand in 1998 and faced deportation for overstaying, but later qualified for residency as a dependent child of the father following an appeal.

In the application letter to the then New Zealand Immigration Service in 2001, the older Mr Sharma is said to be a member of the Brahman caste.

"His training as a Hindu priest originates from his birth and upbringing. Mr Sharma is recognised as a high priest by the Brahman Maha Sabha of New Zealand and the Aadi Brahman Parishad of Fiji ... the only necessary qualification for Mr Sharma to become a Hindu priest was his birth as a Brahman."

The father is believed to be still working as a Hindu priest in Sydney.

It is feared that Mrs Sharma was a victim of an honour killing after her badly burnt body was found on a roadside.

"Bride burnings have been known to be a ritual practised by some religious cults in India, but it is definitely not condoned or accepted in Hinduism," the agent said.

A friend of the couple, who also requested anonymity, said Mrs Sharma had been to see her over the Christmas holidays about problems she had with creditors.

"She was telling me that her husband [was] buying big items on hire purchase under her name and not making payments for them, leaving her to face the creditors. Even the house rent wasn't paid," the friend said.

She said the couple met in New Zealand, but got married in Fiji in 2002.