‘The community is 100% scared’: shop owners of Auckland’s Little India at centre of national crime debate
After a series of high-profile robberies and ram raids, the owners of Sandringham’s dairies say something has changed in New Zealand
Outside Rose Cottage Dairy, layers of flowers are drying on the footpath. Store-bought arrangements are mixed with jasmine, rosemary and geraniums hand-cut from local gardens. For the past week, the shop has remained shuttered, lace curtains closed, corrugated iron rolled down over the door. Behind the flowers is a sign: “Justice for Janak”.
Two weeks have passed since Janak Patel was murdered as he worked at this small Sandringham shop, allegedly stabbed after he pursued a man who had stolen a cash register. His death came at the close of a year that has left store owners across New Zealand reeling from a series of robberies, ram raids and break-ins. As the community grieves, his death has also become a focal point for New Zealanders’ concerns about crime, and the political struggle surrounding it. With election year approaching, the anxieties and grief of small shop owners have been catapulted on to the national stage, subject to politicians’ press releases, talkback radio monologues and parliamentary debate.
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