Su Harrap, the mother of the young Auckland woman Lena Zhang Harrap, who was killed on Mt Albert in 2021, says she still visits the site of her daughter’s murder.
The 27-year-old had been walking up the mountain in September 2021 and was only 20 minutes from her home when Shamal Sharma subjected her to a violent two-hour sexual attack.
Sharma then murdered Zhang and left her on the slopes of Ōwairaka.
He was arrested two days after a volunteer searcher discovered Zhang’s partially concealed body along a bush-lined walkway about a kilometre from her Mt Albert home.
Harrap told TVNZ’s Sunday show she and her daughter would walk that route often.
“I just wish she hadn’t taken that walk on that day,” she said.
“I know during that time that she suffered, and that she left signs of fighting for her life.
“It occurred to me that he had literally taken her to the depths of hell,” Harrap said.
“And to think that your daughter, and to think that someone so beautiful, and so innocent, and so loving, was taken that far and taken to that place.”
Last year, Sharma was sentenced to life in prison, with a minimum non-parole period of 19 years.
During the sentencing, Zhang’s father Martin said Lena was caring, funny, and clever.
“She was a beautiful dancer. She was a wonderful daughter.”
Finding connection with another targeted woman
One day earlier, Sharma targeted another woman who had been out jogging in Henderson.
Tejal Acharya had been jogging about 6.40am when he drove past her in his white Hyundai, slowing down to stare at her. He then turned around and pulled up beside her on the side of the road.
“Do you know where Tudor Rd is?” he is alleged to have asked Acharya out of his window.
She said no, to which he asked again, “So you don’t?”
“At this stage, [the jogger] began to feel uneasy,” court documents state.
“She cut Mr Sharma off and said no, continuing to walk along the footpath.”
But Sharma continued to linger, finding a nearby car park where he could watch her without being seen then twice driving ahead of the woman and parking near the footpath so he could watch her pass, documents state.
He made frequent u-turns to circle back to the woman and at one point was inching along Triangle Rd in the bicycle lane so he could follow her.
After about 20 minutes of bizarre behaviour, he turned around so his car was facing Acharya, then began to accelerate as he approached her.
“He swerved abruptly to the left, over the kerb and onto the footpath approximately five metres ahead of her,” authorities noted.
“Mr Sharma’s entire car was on the footpath as he drove his car directly at [the woman] in an attempt to run her over.
“[She] ran to her right, onto the grass beside the footpath, to avoid being hit by Mr Sharma’s car.”
The woman went to the nearest house to called police as Sharma drove away, authorities said.
Acharya said those 24 hours have had a lasting impact for her.
“It was a lot of survivor guilt,” she told Sunday.
“There was a feeling that maybe it would’ve been better if it had been me instead of Lena. Maybe there would’ve been a lot less sadness if it had been me.”
However, Harrap told Acharya that Lena would not have wanted her to die.
“If you knew Lena, you would know. And I said that Lena would want you to have a full and happy life,” Harrap told Sunday.
‘I choose to forgive you’
Lena’s mum said she has a message for Sharma.
“I know Lena would have already forgiven you, for she had the biggest of hearts and a love for Jesus,” she told Sunday.
“Although your actions have broken my heart, I too choose to forgive you.”
Harrap said she found solace in faith and forgiveness.
“I think what he did was evil. There’s no other way to describe it. It was evil,” she said.
“I know that where was the worst place of her life was also the best. It’s where she saw Jesus, where she was healed. And where she was taken home to be with him.”
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