The candlelight vigil, organised by the Migrant Workers Association, was attended by politicians, locals and loved ones of Janak Patel. Video / Ella Wilks
Dairy and small business owners are heading to Parliament this afternoon to demand the Government “turn this crime juggernaut around”.
A group of about 15 delegates representing dairy and small business owners will present two petitions, calling for a crackdown on “the crisis that the Government has been denying butevery New Zealander agrees is real”.
There was a consensus among Kiwis that something needed to be done, said organiser Sunny Kaushal.
“We are being burgled and robbed 18 times a day, we are getting ram raided every 10 hours,” he said.
The father of Janak Patel, an Auckland dairy worker who was stabbed to death during an alleged robbery at the Rose Cottage Superette, which he was looking after while its owners were out of the country, will be joining the delegates.
Patel, 34, was killed after he followed a man for about 100m and confronted him following the alleged robbery.
His death sparked a large outcry among small business owners and workers across the nation, many of whom have said they believe the Government must do more to combat crime.
Three men have been charged with his murder and will go to trial next year.
“We need to put the rights of the law-abiding ahead of the rights of criminals to ensure people who go to work come home, unlike Janak Patel,” Kaushal said.
Sunny Kaushal outside the scene of Janak Patel's fatal stabbing. Photo / Jed Bradley
The delegates are calling on Government to take a harder stance on crime, with more police presence on the streets, legal penalties for parents of youth offenders, and stronger punishments for teenagers who were offending.
“Kiwis went through two World Wars, a great depression, and the 1980s reforms without smashing a corner dairy . . . our blood as victims should not be minimised, marginalised or excused. Families of victims of crime deserve to be more than insignificant.”
The petition, launched after Patel’s death, has gained at least 34,000 signatures, and another petition from the Chinese community has 5818.
The group are also presenting a manifesto detailing what they wanted the Government to do “to turn this crime juggernaut around.
“The petition says ‘enough is enough’. The pendulum has swung far too much from justice.”
Kaushal said there needed to be consequences for “14-year-old ratbags” and if that meant sending them to military-style boot camps as a “circuit breaker” for the behaviour then it should be done.
“We need to feel safe in our communities . . . it is a time for red lines before we have another murder in New Zealand.”
The delegates will present their petition at 1.30pm outside the Parliament library.
Melissa Nightingale is a Wellington-based reporter who covers crime, justice, and news in the capital. She joined the Herald in 2016 and has worked as a journalist for 10 years.
