Teacher Not Guilty - Hamilton

Waikato Times
May 8 2007

Retrial finds jailed man not guilty of sex charge

A former Hamilton teacher who was jailed for sexually assaulting a woman in 2005 has been found not guilty in a retrial.

A Hamilton District Court jury last week delivered a verdict of not guilty on two charges of indecent assault against Vijendra Kumar, 33, a former relief teacher.

Mr Kumar said the verdict brought an end to two years of heartache and stress for his family, and he was looking forward to getting his life back on track.

"It has been a very hard time - all of a sudden my life came to an end but I had done nothing wrong," he told the Waikato Times. "Now we can start a new life."

In May 2006 a jury found Mr Kumar guilty of indecently assaulting a real estate agent who was showing him an empty house in 2005. He was sentenced to two years and two months in jail, five months of which he served before his appeal was approved. He was due to be released from jail when he began the appeal process.

The woman, who has continued name suppression, told police that Mr Kumar had propositioned her while she was showing him a listing in Chartwell's Belmont Ave, and then said he demanded to be taken back to the property after viewing other houses and forced her to masturbate him.

The charges were a "shock" for Mr Kumar; the teacher of seven years lost his job and people turned their backs on him. From jail he and his wife initiated a retrial, becoming well versed in the legal mine-field they were journeying into. With the help of his new lawyer Mike Robb they were granted the retrial.

"I know so much about law now. I studied so I knew what was happening," Mr Kumar said.

He said he had spent thousands on legal bills and had been ill because of stress. It was the support of his family that kept him motivated to fight what he considered to be a trial affected by racism.

"It was my very hard efforts and my wife's very hard efforts that we were able to appeal and win," he told the Times.

"My wife has been very supportive and it is because of her support that I was able to appeal. I am glad it is now over."