Christchurch park killing: Family mourn slain grandfather Mewa Singh fatally attacked after being mistaken for child abductor

The son of a 60-year-old Indian tourist, who a stranger mistook for a child abductor and fatally attacked near a Christchurch skatepark, says his father’s senseless killing was “totally unfair” and shouldn’t have happened.

Mewa Singh was visiting his son and grandson from India when his life was cut short on the evening of April 7 last year.

He was killed by a single “haymaker style-punch” from an enraged father.

Singh’s son Himanshu Keshwer told Stuff he was “broken” after being told someone had attacked his father.

“When I left for work that day everything was good. My family was happy, [my father] was playing with my daughter and everything was good,” Keshwer said.

That night, Keshwer learned his father had been critically injured after receiving a call from a police officer about 9.30pm.

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

“He was a very good human being. He never took anything seriously and always tried to help people wherever possible.”

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

Mewa Singh, 60, lying in Christchurch Hospital after being knocked unconscious near Linwood Park.

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

He returned a short time later and, from the opposite side of the road, saw a man he did not know holding his son’s hand near a bus stop.

The summary said the father became enraged and when he reached the stranger, he told him to get his hands off his son and shoved him.

About 7.15pm, the man drove his son back to his ex-partner’s house where he explained he had seen their son with an Indian male.

The incident took place between 7.30pm and 7.50pm on April 7 last year near Linwood Park. Photo / George Heard

The boy told his father that the man was trying to walk him to “daddy’s car”. The father responded with: “f*** this, I’m going back there to find him,” despite his ex-partner advising him 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 abduct his son.

He shoved Singh and then let him go, before punching him once in the jaw with a closed fist in a “haymaker-style punch”.

Singh fell backward and struck 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 punched a man and thought he had killed him. The woman phoned emergency services.

The man later made the same admission to his flatmate.

Singh did not regain consciousness after being punched. He was treated in the Intensive Care Unit at Christchurch Hospital with a skull fracture 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 that he was angry at his father’s killer. He said the last year had been “really hard” for his family.

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

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

“We thought New Zealand was a safe country, it’s just a shock,” he said.

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

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