'Where is simple humanity?': Whangārei teen attacked and racially abused

A 15-year-old was assaulted on the Kamo shared pathway on October 27. Photo / Michael Cunningham

After his daughter was beaten black and blue and racially abused, the father of the teenager wonders if he made a mistake bringing his family to Whangārei.

The 15-year-old girl is still recovering from an assault on the Kamo shared path where three teenagers robbed her and left her with a traumatic memory.

The parents are heartbroken and say Satya* still suffers through sleepless nights and cries in pain.

"In her sleep, she often mutters, 'I wish I did not go for a walk that day, I wish we took a different route'.

"Satya often wakes up at night, screaming and terrified like someone was attacking her. We don't know how long it will take for her to go back to being our sweet 15-year-old daughter."

Satya went out walking with her mother Devi* on the Kamo shared path on October 27 and was assaulted by three teenage girls around 5.30pm.

The girls wanted her phone and she gave the phone and password, afraid they might beat her if she did not obey.

However, they started punching her. Satya tried running away twice, but the girls pulled her by the hair and punched her badly in the face, said Devi.

"She was pinned down on the pathway and the girls continued kicking her. Not only that, they went on sending abusive messages to everyone on Satya's WhatsApp."

Devi broke into tears as she narrated the incident of how her "young princess" was brutally beaten up, racially insulted and "became a laughing stock for the bullies as they videoed her getting kicked for fun".

"If the passer-by cyclist or the woman living next door hadn't intervened, they would have killed my baby."

Devi usually took a different route for her evening walks, but "unfortunately" decided to go there instead.

The young Whangārei girl was saved by a cyclist and a woman living near the Kamo shared pathway. Photo / Michael Cunningham

"We started walking together, however, along the way we separated. I walked ahead and she was following me while listening to her music.

"On my way, I saw three teenage girls and one of them blocked my way. She said something, but I couldn't gather what she was saying and then they all started laughing at me. I ignored them and moved past them.

"I wish I had not, I regret it every minute of my life since then, maybe I could have saved my baby girl from the horrible fate. Imagine a mother's pain that she couldn't save her child just a few hundred metres away."

Whangārei Police Acting Detective Senior Sergeant Rob Huys said being a victim of a crime can be an upsetting process for anybody to go through.

"We would like to reassure our community that there is no information to suggest an increase in crime targeted towards our Indian community in Whangārei.

"Police did investigate an incident near Kamo recently where a younger member of the Indian community was assaulted. This was the only incident of this nature that was reported and two people have since been arrested and charged.

"Police take these matters seriously and we regularly monitor reported crime to identify and respond to any particular trends. Police continue to work closely with our local Indian community to ensure they are safe and feel safe with appropriate crime prevention advice being provided.

"As part of this we encourage the community to report crime to police and to report suspicious activity to us as soon as possible. If anyone finds themselves in a situation where they are not safe, or they witness suspicious activity, they should call 111 immediately. To report matters after they have happened, call 105."

Satya's father moved to Whangārei when he wanted to bring his family from India because he felt the town was a safe place.

"We migrated to this country, this town, thinking it was a safe place for us and our kids.

"I really hope no other parent has to go through the things we went through with our daughter. We want to see the people who put our child in misery being punished so that this incident never repeats and no child has to suffer the pain again.

"Today it was us, tomorrow it could be anyone's child. We are hardworking people, pay taxes to this country, consider this our home, and our child is beaten up and called racist slurs, for what?

"Satya gave her phone password, ear pods, and was even unhooking her necklace, but they kept on punching her. Where is simple humanity?"

Satya spent two days at hospital undergoing surgery to remove a nasal clog and was on three weeks of bed rest.

Multi Ethnic Collective chairman Ralph Correa has organised an ethnic communities hui with Northland Police tomorrow to discuss the "recent spike in hate crimes towards the ethnic communities".

Multi-Ethnic Collective chairman Ralph Correa says there is a need to address crime against ethnic communities in Whangārei. Photo / Michael Cunningham

Whangārei Mayor Sheryl Mai met with the members of Satya's family yesterday.

Mai said it was "ghastly" what happened to a young woman in the city.

"Everybody should be feeling safe and she was not. However, I am pleased the police managed to find the alleged offenders very quickly.

"But we all need to be addressing the issue of young people being aggressive to others, it is just not acceptable.

Whangārei mayor Sheryl Mai describes the young girl's assault as "ghastly" and "awful". Photo / Tania Whyte

"This sort of incident has unfortunately occurred in the past; however, I wouldn't describe it as a spike. Putting myself in the shoes of the family whose precious daughter and sister was attacked, I can imagine why they would feel unsafe in the community. It is just awful."

* Names have been changed to protect the family's privacy.