A man has been arrested following the death of a woman in West Auckland on Monday evening. Video / Hayden Woodward
Community leaders are rallying around the prominent West Auckland refugee family of a top law student allegedly murdered in an alleyway near her home.
There were emotional scenes in court yesterday as the family of Farzana (Zana) Yaqubi, 21, came face to face with her alleged killer at his first court appearance after her death on Monday in Massey.
Her family told the Herald she was an accomplished student who was quiet, diligent and friendly.
A 30-year-old man was granted interim name suppression so his parents in India could be notified of the murder charge he faces.
He looked at the ground as Judge June Jelas remanded him in custody to await his next appearance on February 1 in the High Court at Auckland.
Defence lawyer Paul Borich KC did not enter a plea on the man’s behalf.
Three sisters and two brothers of Yaqubi filled the first row of the courtroom’s gallery during the brief appearance. Screams echoed in court as the defendant was shuffled out by security.
“You ****ing bastard!” one of the women yelled through tears.
Standing outside the courtroom after the hearing, family friend Wahid Suliman described Yaqubi as a caring and “beautiful young lady” who had plans to become a criminal lawyer after just one more year of studying.
Farzana (Zana) Yaqubi's alleged killer appeared in the Waitakere District Court on Wednesday. Photo / Supplied
“The tragedy has broken everybody’s heart,” he said.
“She was the youngest [in the family] but she was the smartest.”
Yaqubi’s father was a refugee from the Afghan Hazara ethnic minority, who fled Taliban persecution in 2001 and ended up as one of the Tampa refugees. He was one of 150 refugees granted asylum by Prime Minister Helen Clark after they were rescued from a drifting fishing vessel by container ship MV Tampa then refused entry to Australia.
A family member told the Herald Yaqubi was born in New Zealand shortly after her father’s arrival in the country.
She grew up in Auckland and studied law at AUT, receiving a scholarship.
The family member said Yaqubi received high marks and was a top student.
Yaqubi was an observant Shia and planned to shortly head to Karbala in Iraq for a pilgrimage.
The family member remembered Yaqubi as quiet, diligent and loved by children.
“My kids, they keep telling me they miss her and asking for her to come back,” he said.
Police launched a homicide investigation shortly after Yaqubi was found dead near the Waitakere Badminton Centre about 5.45pm on Monday, in an alleyway near her family’s home. Members of the community have been laying flowers in the alley.
Former Te Atatu MP and Ethnic Affairs Minister Chris Carter, now chair of the Henderson Massey Local Board, spent four years in Afghanistan’s capital Kabul with the UNDP after leaving politics.
He said he knew the family from his days as the minister and the annual Tampa refugee reunions. Carter said he planned to visit the family in that capacity, not as a politician, likely on Friday.
“I feel very sad that a refugee family who fled violence when the Taliban first attacked their country to find a safe place have to go through this terrible tragedy here.”
A woman lays flowers at the entranceway to the Alley where Yaqubi was allegedly killed. Photo / Dean Purcell
A steady stream of people from the Afghan community in Auckland have been arriving at the home Yaqubi shared with her family to support them in their grief.
Upper Harbour MP Vanushi Walters said news of her alleged attack was tragic.
“My thoughts are first and foremost with the family at this difficult time,” she said.
“I know we’ll all be looking for ways in which we can support those in our Massey community and our Afghan community who will be feeling the weight of this horrific act.”
Assadullah Nazari, president of the Hazara Afghan Association Incorporated, said his community in Auckland is rallying around the family.
Nazari said he had spoken to the family, and planned to head to the house with some elders to see what support they could provide.
The distress of the community was compounded by the grief and worry they still felt from the Christchurch mosque attacks.
“We left our own country, the country that we were born in ... we left to go somewhere to be safe and live our lives in peace, and in the community,” he said.
“And then we come here and we get that shocking thing that happened with the Christchurch mosque attack.”
The worry had again intensified after the death of a Hazara in Auckland, he said.
“The community’s in shock. Everyone is worried, especially with the young ones that they have.”
