By Gurbir Singh:
An 18-year-old teen, Rosie Lewis was today sentenced to life imprisonment in the High Court at Napier (New Zealand) for the brutal murder of 30-year old, Sandeep Dhiman whom she met on the dating site, Tinder.
He was beaten, stabbed nine times and left to die beside a remote road north of Napier, on the night of December 17 last year, a day before his birthday.
Sandeep who hailed from Kharar (Punjab) came to New Zealand for study in 2015 and was working with a telecom company,Chorus at the time of his murder.
The sentence, with a minimum term of 11 years, comes after Rosie pleaded guilty to the murder and aggravated robbery.
Co-offender Shaun Karauria, also 17 at the time of the killing, had also earlier pleaded guilty and was sentenced on May 25 to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 12 years.
Sandeep was killed as Rosie wanted his car, a 2006 Toyota Passo, and she conspired with her ‘cousin’ Karauria to “smash” him, stab him, and leave him somewhere remote.
Both had met a few times earlier and on that fateful day around 9pm, they talked Dhiman into taking them to the remote rural area of Tutira, a 40-minute drive north of Napier.
At a secluded spot, Karauria stabbed Sandeep nine times in the back, throat, heart and chest. Later he kicked his head and stomped him on his face until he stopped moving.
They took away his car and two cell phones, and put the car up for sale online next morning at 8.45am.
His body was found next morning by a passing truck driver.
Heartbroken Sandeep’s family,who watched the sentencing from Sydney, was disappointed at the sentencing handed over to his killers.
His older brother Dheeraj is reported to have remarked “Our family does not believe these two are sorry for what they did, and that they only expressed remorse as a means to lessen their sentence.”
This story was also earlier published in Babushahi.com
