Japanese student kidnapped in Palmerston North

A Japanese student spent three nights in fear of his life after allegedly being snatched from a Palmerston North bar and forced to drive three people to Napier.

Details of the incident, involving a 20-year-old International Pacific College (IPC) student remain sketchy, but the deputy dean of international studies at IPC, Peter Finch, confirmed the incident took place two weeks ago today.

He said the student was kidnapped from a bar in the city centre, then robbed and forced to drive the trio, two men and a woman, to Napier.

Mr Finch said a man has been arrested in relation to the kidnapping but, with the other offenders still on the loose, the victim's ordeal is not over.

"The police have got one, but there's still two others out there. They know his car, they know its registration and they know what he looks like," Mr Finch said.

After being taken to Napier, the student was, according to Mr Finch, dumped in Woodville about 5am three days later where he contacted police.

"The student had a fair bit of cash and they took that for various things they needed. They then forced him to use his ATM card to take out more money."

Mr Finch said the student's English "isn't particularly good".

"They roughed him up and threw him out of the car, I think when they realised he was out of cash."

The victim suffered minor injuries "but he's quite a resilient student, so he's okay".

The victim returned to class on Monday and the school has been in contact with his family in Japan.

- nzpa