Nisha, who is Reeta's sister, was thrown into a refrigerator before escaping by crawling between shelves to get out through a glass door. The Sharmas supplied footage of the violence to help catch the attacker.
Nisha arrived from India only 15 days ago, believing it was a peaceful country. She was badly shaken, but recounted what happened.
"I said, 'Whatever you want, take it. Just don't harm me'."
Nisha was looking after the store and waiting for her sister to take over for the evening. "I said, 'My sister is coming', and then he got scared."
Reeta was running late, and blamed herself for not being there. Once she arrived, she phoned husband Jai, who drives a taxi.
"They called me around 3.45," Jai said. "I was getting ready to go to work."
Jai was in disbelief after viewing the CCTV footage and seeing the wreckage in his store.
"This is the worst," he said, comparing the violent attack to the eight previous robberies.
The thief even stole money from a small shrine the family have in the corner of the store.
Reeta urged the thief to turn himself in.
Police already have bootprints, DNA samples and other evidence which the Herald on Sunday has chosen not to reveal. The thief is understood to be a young Polynesian.
Reeta said she and Jai took over the empty premises 10 months ago with a dream of building a business. But a plague of robberies, mostly by teenagers, drained their resources.
Reeta said local police needed more resources, and courts had to take a harder line on juvenile criminals. "The system is not good at all."
Reeta said it was likely the family would close the store because she did not want to expose her two young daughters to any more violence. "Life is more precious than money."
Nisha has enrolled in a local polytech to study early childhood education and care, but last night was considering leaving New Zealand.
