Hawke’s Bay dairies close early, vigil held in support of slain worker

A candlelight vigil was staged in Hastings on Sunday for Janak Patel. Photo / Supplied

A candlelight vigil has been staged in Hastings, and dairy owners across the region have decided to shut their shops temporarily in support of the family of Janak Patel, who was tragically killed outside a dairy in Auckland.

A Hawke’s Bay community leader has also called for violence against migrant workers to be stopped.

Patel, 34, was fatally stabbed last Wednesday during an alleged robbery of an Auckland dairy where he worked.

He had recently married and moved to New Zealand.

Police have arrested three people in relation to the attack.

Candles placed in central Hastings during the vigil. Photo / Supplied

A vigil was held on Sunday evening in central Hastings on the same day as Patel’s funeral, and dairy owners across Hawke’s Bay planned to shut their stores for a short period on Monday afternoon to show their support.

Some dairy owners planned to stand outside their stores in a show of solidarity.

Vigil organiser Sukhdeep Singh, former president of Multicultural Association Hawke’s Bay, said about 50 people attended the Hastings event, despite the wet weather.

“He came to New Zealand to make this country his home and had dreams for his young family. We all share this sadness,” Singh said.

“Being a migrant - we have so many dreams to have a house, have a family, to have a good job.

“And for this young man, his family has lost everything and his family are going to suffer for the rest of their lives... it’s really, really sad.”

The vigil in Hastings. Photo / Supplied

He said it was awful to see such violence, which was “just not acceptable”.

“I wanted to show people that as migrants we come here and work hard day and night and support the economy and contribute socially, culturally, economically to Hawke’s Bay and the whole country,” he said.

“We want safety, we want protection, we want to walk home after [our] job without fear; our families want to make sure we will go home at night.”

He said shop owners he had spoken to were planning to take part in the nationwide protest on Monday afternoon, closing their stores for a short period.

That included stores in Napier, Hastings and Havelock North.

“And the whole community, with one voice, [wants to] put pressure on the Government, to say, ‘Look, you need to do something, this is not acceptable - we need action now.”

An Ōtāne General Store worker, who did not want to be named, said they closed their store early on Sunday to honour Patel and his family.

A Givealittle page has been set up for Patel’s family by the Dairy and Business Owners’ Group.