The man accused of murder after his wife's burning body was found on a remote rural road will undergo a psychiatric assessment before his next court appearance.
Diwesh Sharma, 29, was charged with murdering 28-year-old Ranjeeta Sharma at the weekend.
He appeared in the Hamilton District Court yesterday charged with assault with a blunt instrument and of breaching bail.
Sharma, a small-framed and short man, appeared nervous and uncomfortable during his short hearing.
He wore a tidy grey-checked shirt and kept his back to the courtroom, only looking up when addressed by community magistrate Kathy Wilson.
She allowed media to photograph Sharma in court, due to the huge public interest in the case.
Sharma's lawyer, Roger Laybourn, said he would request a psychiatric and other medical reports before his client's next appearance on March 1.
"I will get a psychiatric report because of the unusual allegations. Then it will be for police to disclose information and we will go from there, with guidance from the psychiatric report," Mr Laybourn said.
Police said accelerant was poured on Mrs Sharma's body and she was still alive when she was set on fire last month.
Sharma left for Fiji the day after her body was found, taking the couple's 4-year-old son.
He was located by Fiji police and escorted back to New Zealand by detectives from Hamilton on Friday night.
Mr Laybourn said Sharma had not seen his son since he arrived back in New Zealand.
Murder accused to be assessed
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