The trial of two boys accused in the killing of an Indian-origin dairy owner in New Zealand has now been delayed by seven months.
One of the boys, aged 13, has been accused of killing Arun Kumar, 57, June 10 at the Railside Dairy in Henderson in west Auckland, which the victim owned, New Zealand Herald reported Tuesday.
The boy has jointly been charged with a 12-year-old boy with the murder of Kumar while he was working with his wife at the dairy.
The family of Kumar will now have to wait until June next year for the case to be heard -- news which has devastated them.
The duo was due to go on trial Monday, but the court confirmed this week that was impossible.
Both have been in the care of Child Youth and Family since the alleged offending and have name suppression because of their age.
The court has set a new date of June 2 next year for the four-week trial and said the move had come about "for a variety of reasons none of which are due to fault on the part of any counsel".
Kumar's son Shivneel said he had only heard of the rescheduling in the last couple of days and was very disappointed.
He did not want to comment further. The victim's wife Anita was similarly too upset to discuss the delays.
