KEY POINTS:
An 80-year-old woman who lives less than 2km from the south Auckland bottle store where Navtej Singh was killed is in hospital after being knocked unconscious in her home.
The Chinese woman was left for 4-1/2 hours after a man who broke into her home in Saralee Drive, Manurewa East, attacked her and tried to force her into a closet about 5.30pm on Wednesday.
She was not found until her family arrived about 10pm. She is currently in intensive care at Middlemore Hospital with serious injuries.
"This is an assault on an 80-year-old woman who couldn't fight back and so we'd really like to get hold of this person before he hurts anyone else," Detective Inspector Mark Gutry, of Counties Manukau police, said.
"The injuries, because of her age, have to be considered serious."
The woman, whose family run a nearby takeaways shop, has been able to speak to police briefly about the incident but it has been slow going due to her condition and language difficulties.
Mr Gutry said the woman described the offender as a male Maori wearing a white t-shirt and black shorts.
"The first she was aware was when a hand was placed over her mouth.
"She was then assaulted and there was an attempt to put her in a closet but further than that we're still going through speaking with the victim when we can."
Mr Gutry was unsure how the offender got in, though he said windows in the house were open.
He said the motive for the attack was unclear and that at this stage it did not appear that anything had been stolen.
The attack is one of several violent incidents in the Manurewa area during the past month, the most notable being the killing by armed robbers of Mr Singh at the Riverton Liquor Store in Randwick Park.
But Mr Gutry said the Manurewa East area was a newly developed part of the suburb which was generally quiet.
He said the attack on the Chinese woman did not appear to be related to the other Manurewa incidents.
"I would say it seems this is probably an isolated incident. We certainly haven't had anything similar in recent times but always we will look at older cases to see," Mr Gutry said.
Police will continue examining the scene for forensic evidence until at least tomorrow.
- NZPA
