Christchurch park murder: Family mourns murdered grandfather Mewa Singh, fatally attacked after being mistaken for child abductor

That night, Keshwer learned that his father had been seriously injured after receiving a call from a police officer around 9:30 p.m.

He said his father was a kind and caring man who would never hurt anyone, let alone a child.

“He was a very good man. He never took anything too seriously and always tried to help people as much as he could.”

Details of the incident at Linwood Park were revealed yesterday after a 32-year-old man, whose name is being suppressed, pleaded guilty to Singh’s manslaughter in the High Court in Christchurch.

After spending time at the park with his son, the 32-year-old man said it was time to leave, but the boy did not follow his instructions, so he left to “teach his son a lesson,” according to the summary of facts.

He returned a short time later and across the road saw a man he didn’t know holding his son’s hand near a bus stop.

The summary states that the father got angry and when he reached the stranger, he told him to let go of his son and pushed him.

At around 7:15 p.m., the man took his son back to his ex-partner’s home where he explained that he had seen their son with an Indian man.

The boy told his father that the man was trying to walk him to “dad’s car”. The father replied: “Fuck, I’m going back to find him”, despite his ex-partner’s advice not to go.

The man returned to Linwood Park, where he found and confronted Singh, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt and accusing him of trying to kidnap his son.

He pushed Singh and then let go, before punching him in the jaw in a “haymaker-style punch.”

Singh fell backward and hit his head on the pavement. Believing Singh to be dead, the man left the scene and returned to his ex’s house.

There he told her he had hit a man and thought he had killed him. The woman called emergency services.

The man then made the same confession to his roommate.

Singh did not regain consciousness after being struck. He was treated in the intensive care unit of Christchurch Hospital for a fractured skull and internal bleeding. His injuries were inoperable and he died after being taken off life support on April 9.

Keshwer told Stuff what happened was “totally unfair” and he was angry at his father’s killer. He added the last year had been “very difficult” for his family.

“Someone killed my father and I couldn’t do anything, and I still can’t do anything. It makes me sad, it shouldn’t have happened.”

Jitender Sahi of the Sikh Society said the event had “shocked the community” and warned his community to stay off the streets after dark.

“We thought New Zealand was a safe country, this is a shock,” he said.

“He was just visiting his children… it’s tragic.”

“We just want to remind the community not to go out alone in the dark,” Sahi said.