March aims to reclaim streets from violence

Praveet Singh. Photo / Michael Craig

A South Auckland woman who was attacked on her daily pre-dinner walk will today lead a pedestrian march aimed at reclaiming the streets from violence.

Praveet Singh was on her regular walk near her home in Papatoetoe on January 16 when she was set upon in the street.

The attack left the mother-of-two with fractured eye sockets, a broken nose and sense of frustration that about 15 people who saw what happened were unwilling to intervene.

Ms Singh said she hoped to march with about 30 to 50 people through Papatoetoe, starting at 6pm at the intersection of Portage and Station roads and Gray Ave, finishing about 1.7 km away at the public library.

She said she wanted to encourage people to step in if they see someone set upon in the street.

"I would like people to actually come out and help when there's a need. We should feel safe walking on the roads," Ms Singh said.

"After my incident a lot of people stopped going out for walks. [I want] mainly to send out a message that it's okay."

Ms Singh's ordeal hasn't put her off - she's back hitting the pavements and yesterday walked to Otara.

"It's happened once, it's not like there's a looney out there all the time."

She is suffering from some post-traumatic stress but said she was mostly coping well. Factures to Ms Singh's eye sockets could take some six months to heal and were still giving her pain.

Lual Makur Lual, 26, is charged with injuring Ms Singh with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. He is due to make a bail application in the Manukau District Court today.

Ms Singh said she came up with the idea to march and had been helped by the local Indian association and Manukau East MP Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi.