Wife of murdered man had rejected accused killer’s profile from marriage bureau

Gurjit Singh was found dead outside his Dunedin home after being stabbed more than 40 times. A man known as Rajinder is on trial for murder. Photo / Getty Images

By Tess Brunton of RNZ

The wife of a Dunedin man stabbed to death has revealed she rejected a proposal from the man accused of his murder.

Gurjit Singh was found dead on the lawn of his home in January last year after being stabbed more than 40 times.

A 35-year-old man, known only as Rajinder, is on trial for murder at the High Court.

His defence lawyer said Rajinder had no reason to kill Singh and there was no animosity between the two men.

Speaking through a translator, Singh’s wife Kamaljeet Kaur told the court she rejected Rajinder’s profile from a marriage bureau in India around 2022 because she was already in contact with Singh.

“I was not interested,” she said. Her parents said no to Rajinder’s proposal.

She said she told Singh about his approach the same day.

Kaur and Singh met online in 2021 and married in India in May 2023. The couple waited for a partner visa in order for Kaur to move to New Zealand in 2024.

Kaur said her bags were packed and she was preparing to leave India when she found out Singh had been killed.

She travelled from India to Dunedin to give evidence for the prosecution at Rajinder’s trial.

Kaur confirmed her sister married one of Rajinder’s relatives.

She also described overhearing a conversation on speaker phone where she found out Rajinder’s sister wanted her brother to marry Singh’s sister, but Singh rejected the idea because she was too young.

Singh had moved to Dunedin as a result of a job offer from Rajinder and had mentioned him a few times when he was his boss, Kaur said.

Kaur said Singh later struck out on his own and was successful.

The couple were in contact daily, with Kaur last receiving a photo from Singh as he drove home from a pizza party the night before he was found dead.

Her husband would normally contact her in the morning, so she was worried when she did not hear from him and calls and messages went unanswered.

Kaur said she asked friend Tarsem Singh to check on her husband and when another mutual friend did so at his request, Singh was found dead.

Defence questions wife Kamaljeet Kaur

In response to questions from defence lawyer Anne Stevens, KC, Kaur said it was normal for profiles to be sent to a bureau to arrange a marriage.

She said she had never met Rajinder and had refused other proposals the same year because she wanted to study and did not want to marry.

She told Stevens she was not aware of any difficulties between Rajinder’s family and her own because of her rejection and Singh had never mentioned any difficulties in his relationship with Rajinder.

Kaur said her husband had accepted Rajinder’s job offer because it would improve his chance of becoming a New Zealand resident.

She told Stevens it was possible discussions could take place with matchmakers without family knowing.

Asked whether the term proposal meant matchmaker negotiations, rather than an actual marriage proposal, Kaur said yes.

Family tried to find Rajinder a wife for two years

Rajinder’s sister Harmeet Kaur said Kamaljeet Kaur’s family sought a marriage to her brother twice and it was her family that had rejected the proposal.

Her family had tried to find her brother a wife for about two years and were using a marriage bureau, she said.

The first proposal had been rejected by her mother.

The marriage broker forced them to reconsider Kamaljeet Kaur a second time, but Rajinder was not interested, Harmeet Kaur said.

She and her father got him to look at her photos before making a decision and a video call was lined up so Kamaljeet Kaur’s father could speak with Rajinder.

But she said the other woman’s family decided not to progress the match as the woman had recently got a good job and did not want to leave India.

Rajinder also asked Harmeet Kaur to ask Singh if his sister would marry him, but Singh rejected the idea, saying she was too young and wanted to study abroad.

Harmeet Kaur told the court a mutual friend of Singh had told her she was upset at Singh for telling her he was going to Australia when he went to India and got married instead.

The friend told her Singh had been asking for her help to arrange a marriage with her cousin, Kaur said.

When she told her brother about the marriage, “he was surprised”.

Neighbours, residents called to stand

Neighbours from Dunedin and nearby residents were also called to the stand on Tuesday.

Hilary St resident Alan Richardson recalled hearing a lot of breaking glass about 10.50pm on the night before Singh was found dead, thinking it might have been someone hitting a recycling bin.

He later recalled hearing what sounded like someone shovelling it up and what appeared to be a car driving away.

Another resident, Taylor Wyllie, called police about a suspicious man he spotted at Singh’s home a few days before the murder.

He saw a man with a rough beard and wavy hair looking into the house before staring off into the distance when they noticed Wyllie watching.

The trial is set down for three weeks.

– RNZ