MARK TAYLOR/Waikato Times
Sandip and Pinky Patel at their dairy in Hamilton East.
Sandip and Pinky Patel had high hopes for a better life for their family when they came to New Zealand from India.
They bought a dairy in Hamilton East 11 years ago and have worked 12 hours a day, seven days a week while raising their two daughters.
Now their eldest daughter, 25, works in sales and the youngest has just finished school and will be attending university in Auckland next year.
It sounds like every hard-working immigrant’s dream: a successful business, children starting a career.
Delivered
A fog cannon in action during a gas station robbery. The MTA is calling for gas stations to be included in the government’s scheme to subsidize the appliances for dairies and shops.
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But instead the pair live under daily stress, never sure when next they might face an armed robber demanding cigarettes and money.
New Zealand has not proved a haven for the couple and now they want to return to India. “I don’t want to stay here,” says Sandip. “My country is [much] safer than New Zealand now.”
CHRISTEL YARDLEY/STUFF/Waikato Times
Sandip Patel, pictured four years ago, suffered numerous cuts and a skull fracture in a robbery at his Hamilton factory.
Four years ago, he was the victim of a vicious attack in their dairy by two teenagers wielding machetes.
His ordeal left him with numerous cuts and a skull fracture as he defended himself against the attackers who fled with cigarettes and money.
Since then, the couple has lived in a state of fear, despite the enhanced security of their Emm Jay Dairy.
They keep their store’s entrance door locked and don’t open it until they’ve checked out the customer, yet Pinky has had to activate her fog cannon twice due to the demand for cigarettes.
Sandip, who has a separate job until 3 p.m., says he calls Pinky 10 times a day to make sure everything is okay at the dairy.
“We’re not safe here anymore,” says Pinky. “Not at all.”
Sandip says New Zealand was good when they first arrived, but now the crime rate is rising and the government should control it.
Kelly Hodel/Stuff
Hamilton company owners held a vigil at The Base last Sunday for Janak Patel, who died after being stabbed while working at an Auckland dairy.
He thinks the law needs to change, especially around younger offenders. “If they know how to attack, how to rob, how come they’re like teenagers?” he asks. “They’re not teenagers.”
On November 23, there was a tragic echo of the assault Sandip suffered when Hamilton man Janak Patel, 34, was fatally stabbed after an alleged robbery at the Auckland dairy where he worked.
Sandip knew the dead man, described him as a gentleman, and wonders what will happen to his family.
Enough is enough, and the Patels want to sell. If they can find a buyer, they will return to their home country.
“Sure, I’m going back to India, I don’t want to stay here,” says Sandip. “Scary, every day, scary.”