An Indian man convicted of murdering his wife two years ago and sentenced to life imprisonment has been granted a retrial by New Zealand's supreme court.
Laxman Rajamani, a 35-year-old accountant, allegedly killed his wife Chitralekha Ramakrishnan on January 13, 2005. The high court at
Auckland found him guilty after a two-week trial in February last year and jailed him for life, with a non-parole period of 12 years.
Later, Rajamani argued he was provoked into a rage after his wife told him she wanted a divorce and was leaving him for a Pakistani colleague, stuff.co.nz, a news portal reported.
The Court of Appeal had rejected his appeal, but the Supreme Court Wednesday overturned that decision.
Rajamani had appealed on the grounds there was a miscarriage of justice and that the judge had failed to properly sum up to the jury on the defence of provocation.
The Supreme Court was convinced that the trial had been a miscarriage of justice.
The couple emigrated to New Zealand from India in July 2003.