Sandringham stabbing: Thousands gather to bid tearful farewell to Janak Patel

Thousands of mourners converged on a funeral home in South Auckland to farewell slain dairy worker Janak Patel on this wet and gloomy Sunday afternoon.

The 34-year-old, recently married Patel was tragically stabbed to death outside the Rose Cottage Dairy in Sandringham on Wednesday shortly after the superette was robbed.

People began gathering at Ann’s Funeral Home in Wiri as early as 2pm for the funeral that was scheduled to start at 5pm. The venue’s car park was full, and vehicles spilled on to the neighbouring roads well before the funeral got underway.

The cortege arrived shortly after 4:30 pm and proceedings began before the scheduled time. As family and friends brought Janak into the hall amidst Hindu chants, the atmosphere was emotional with sobbing family members clinging to the coffin, sobbing.

With all seats in the hall long taken, mourners spilled out beyond the foyer into the parking lot, braving the rain. The public ceremony began shortly thereafter and was conducted with utmost dignity and grace.

Only four speakers addressed the gathered thousands. Family representative Mitesh served as MC and read out the eulogy describing Janak’s life. He profusely thanked both community leaders and the community at large for their continuous support to the bereaved family. Family members Kirit (speaking in Gujarati) and Pooja were followed by India’s Honorary Consul in Auckland Bhav Dhillon delivering a vote of thanks on behalf of the family.

There was not a hint of rancour in any of the speeches following what had happened despite the widespread outpouring of anger from all sections of the community expressed publicly, on social media and in conversations all weekend.  

Politicians kept at bay

However, the family’s decision to disallow any politicians to address the gathering, as was announced at the very outset by MC Mitesh, was strongly indicative of the collective anger of the community toward politicians of all hues.  

Politicians present included Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, Labour ministers Michael Wood and Priyanca Radhakrishnan. National was represented by MPs Mark Mitchell, Melissa Lee and former MP Kanwaljit Bakshi. Former NZ First MP Mahesh Bindra was also present. The only mention they received was in the vote of thanks.

NZ Police Detective Inspector Scott Beard, who has been fronting the media with updates since the slaying was also present.

After the speeches and priest Acharya Ajay Trivedi’s recitations from ancient Hindu texts and words of consolation the family paid floral tributes to the departed soul followed by the politicians and community leaders. Nearly every community leader was present representing their respective associations. Among them were Jeet Suchdev, Prithipal Singh, Sunny Kaushal, Narendra Bhana, Dhansukh Lal, Kalyanrao Kasuganti and many others.

The politicians present made a beeline for the grieving family after paying their respects to Janak and huddled over them by turns for a while.

Nationwide protest announced

As the continuous stream of mourners continued to pay their respects, New Zealand Indiand Central Association President Narendra Bhana announced the nationwide protest against the slaying of Janak Patel and for firm, decisive action on perpetrators of ram raids, thefts and all violent crime in the community, especially those directed at retail businesses.

The protest will take place outside Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s electoral offices at 658, New North Road, Mount Albert, Auckland between 12:30 and 2:30 pm tomorrow (Monday 28 November).

Supporters from other cities are encouraged to gather in front of their local Labour MP’s office. For those small Businesses owners unable to join the protest are encouraged to close their doors between 12:30pm and 2:30pm and stand in front of their businesses with posters that are being provided as PDFs to be printed. The printable poster has been widely circulated on social media.

The Kiwi-Indian community has been congregating in the Sandringham neighbourhood, rallying around the grieving family, maintaining vigils outside the premises almost continuously since the unfortunate incident and has held a succession of meetings.

Dairy and Business Owners Group chairperson Sunny Kaushal has set up a give a little page for raising funds for the family.