Manurewa killer likely known to victim - police

Police believe the person who killed a young mother in south Auckland at the weekend was known to her.

Arishma Chand's body was found by her parents just after 1am on Sunday morning, minutes after she'd called to tell them someone was outside her Maich Rd, Manurewa home.

Police on Monday said the evidence so far points towards the killer being someone the 24-year-old knew.

"There is no sign of forced entry to the address, the interior of the address has not been disturbed in any way," said Det Insp Gary Lendrum of the Counties Manukau CIB.

"We are following a number of lines of inquiry into a number of persons that are associated with Arishma."

Ms Chand's three-year-old child was with her ex-husband over the weekend, and did not witness the attack.

"This is a tragic death that has torn apart a family and left a young child without their mother."

A post mortem is presently underway. Insp Lendrum said police believe Ms Chand was deliberately killed because of her "obvious injuries".

He wouldn't say if there were signs a weapon was used, preferring to wait for the outcome of the post mortem.

Ms Chand went out with friends on Saturday night, including her present boyfriend. The pair returned to Ms Chand's home on Maich St around 12:45pm. The boyfriend came inside "momentarily" before leaving.

 "Shortly after that Arishma rang her parents because she was concerned there may be someone outside," said Insp Lendrum.

"Her parents, who had also been out for the evening with relatives, came home about 20 minutes later and found Arishma's body in one of the bedrooms."

A number of nearby businesses are known to have CCTV cameras in operation, and police will be trawling through those in the next few days as part of their inquiries.

Ms Chand's daughter will remain with her ex-husband for now.

"She's with her dad, and because of her age I guess she doesn't realise what has really gone on, at this stage," said Insp Lendrum.

He said the extended family have all been cooperating with police.

"People that live in that Maich Rd area, I'd be really interested if they saw any vehicles they hadn't seen in the street before, or that seemed to be out of place."

Anyone with information is urged to call the police, or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

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