I was abducted and set on fire, woman tells police

Police have sent a map and a towel, found at the burned car at the Domain yesterday, for tests. Picture / Richard Robinson

A woman is in hospital with burns after allegedly being abducted from outside her home, driven to the Auckland Domain and set on fire.

Detective Sergeant Eddie Iosefa, from the Auckland City Crime Squad, said the 53-year-old woman called police from her Parnell home in the early hours of yesterday saying she had been kidnapped earlier in the night.

The woman said she had gone outside to check on her black 1998 BMW at about 11.30pm when a man approached and got into the driver's seat.

He allegedly drove her to Lover's Lane in the nearby Auckland Domain.

The woman and the car were then doused in petrol and set alight. The man ran off.

The woman, who is believed to be a nurse, said she ran to her Cheshire St home and called police and St John Ambulance.

In the meantime, the Fire Service, which also notified police, was called to the Domain to deal with the burning car.

A St John spokesman said the woman was picked up from her house and taken to Middlemore Hospital with moderate burns.

She was last night in the burns unit with superficial burns to her face and shoulders.

Police spent yesterday morning examining the car, which remained burned-out in the Lover's Lane carpark.

The rear right-hand side had suffered the worst damage with most of the black paint charred to a smoky white colour.

The windows were all blown out and the right rear tyre deflated. The car's interior was destroyed.

During their examination, police removed several items from inside the car, including a map and towel. They were bagged and sent away for tests.

Detective Sergeant Iosefa said investigations were continuing.

It was hoped that police would be able to speak further to theinjured woman today.

Neighbours said they were stunned by what had happened, particularly after police visited the woman's apartment complex yesterday morning to make inquiries.

A woman living there said the tenants had access to a secure carpark which was closed in by a gate. She said people living there would not normally park their cars in the front of the building.

"There's stuff that happens with cars getting broken into and students in the area," she said.

"But in general I have never had any issues."

She said the injured woman was "quiet and nice".

The woman "generally kept to herself" but the only time that other people really ever saw her was in the corridor.

- Additional reporting by James Ihaka