What would you have done?
An interesting observation was made in the offices of the Indian Weekender this week as the editorial team got together to put this issue to bed.
Discussing this week’s lead article featuring Praveet Singh Chahal, the 40-year-old woman who was brutally assaulted by a stranger while out on her daily walk in Papatoetoe, in South Auckland, one team member noted that the article was bereft of comments from community leaders.
This was in stark contrast to the previous issue which featured DJ Neill Andrews making racist comments about the Indian community. That had raised the ire of several prominent members of the community and leaders.
At least six community leaders voiced out strongly against Andrews’ diatribe, deploring the actions of the Wellington DJ and demanding further action against the offender.
Praveet Singh was battered while out for a walk in broad daylight and screamed for help from several bystanders. No one helped, and one even pushed her out of his compound as she tried to seek refuge from the drunk attacker.
Her battered and bruised face graced the front pages of the major newspapers in Auckland – one with the headline “I was screaming ‘help me, I don’t know this man’.”
She ran towards a couple washing their car in a nearby driveway: “The guy wouldn’t help – he kept saying to me, ‘don’t come here’. I still went because I needed help. He pushed me away and started running. I ran towards the woman as well but she was running away.”
To make a point, we decided not to seek comments from any of the community leaders, but only publish those who responded of their own volition to express their concerns over the ugly incident watched by several residents of the street.
The silence has been deafening.
It matters not one iota that the majority of the bystanders were Indians who had also made New Zealand their home, just like Praveet Singh. But shouldn’t someone have offered some assistance considering there were at least a dozen bystanders against a lone attacker?
Ethnic and mainstream media were abuzz with reports on the attack. A quick read of articles about the attack reminded me of some Bollywood movies where a few thugs would molest and abuse a few, while hundreds of villagers stood inn a circle and watched.
What sort of people are we?
Having said that, this incident raises another interesting issue of whether bystanders should risk their lives to save someone else’s.
Flashback to September 2008: Austin Hemmings, a Devonport father of three, stepped into a confrontation between a man and a woman in a downtown Auckland alleyway. The assailant, who'd previously killed a woman in Australia, stabbed Hemmings in the chest as the woman escaped.
In a report in the New Zealand Herald this week, the family of Austin Hemmings, said the attack on Praveet Singh, and the subsequent inaction of the bystanders, brought back memories of the attack and loss of their beloved family member.
“When faced with a need to help someone, a lot of people will find it difficult to get physically involved - but at least try to do something. Phone the police, call out, run for help, but do something. Do what you are capable of, but at least try," Austin’s brother, Grant, said.
Austin's father, Dick Hemmings, 84, welcomed the chance to remind people of his son and doing the right thing. "I think the fact of keeping this in the public eye will encourage people to step up to the occasion."
Meantime, Praveet Singh, still nursing bruises to her face, says she has forgiven those who failed to come to her aid during the attack. "I think it's better to forgive and move forward. It's not good for me and it's not good for them. I do hope these people realise what they did to me, and that they might react a bit directly if something like this ever happened again."
About a month ago, a 77-year-old Indian woman was attacked, also in Papatoetoe, as she went out to her backyard to take clothes off the clothesline. The attacker left only when she played dead.
The New Zealand Police, in an article in this newspaper, have emphasized the need for people to be prepared with strategies to be able to stave off such vicious assailants, and they are offering self-defence classes to kick start the campaign.
Ugly as it may be, this incident should again serve as a reminder that violence, in any shape or form, is not OK.
An interesting observation was made in the offices of the Indian Weekender this week as the editorial team got together to put this issue to bed. Discussing this week’s lead article featuring Praveet Singh Chahal, the 40-year-old woman who was brutally assaulted by a stranger while out on her...
An interesting observation was made in the offices of the Indian Weekender this week as the editorial team got together to put this issue to bed.
Discussing this week’s lead article featuring Praveet Singh Chahal, the 40-year-old woman who was brutally assaulted by a stranger while out on her daily walk in Papatoetoe, in South Auckland, one team member noted that the article was bereft of comments from community leaders.
This was in stark contrast to the previous issue which featured DJ Neill Andrews making racist comments about the Indian community. That had raised the ire of several prominent members of the community and leaders.
At least six community leaders voiced out strongly against Andrews’ diatribe, deploring the actions of the Wellington DJ and demanding further action against the offender.
Praveet Singh was battered while out for a walk in broad daylight and screamed for help from several bystanders. No one helped, and one even pushed her out of his compound as she tried to seek refuge from the drunk attacker.
Her battered and bruised face graced the front pages of the major newspapers in Auckland – one with the headline “I was screaming ‘help me, I don’t know this man’.”
She ran towards a couple washing their car in a nearby driveway: “The guy wouldn’t help – he kept saying to me, ‘don’t come here’. I still went because I needed help. He pushed me away and started running. I ran towards the woman as well but she was running away.”
To make a point, we decided not to seek comments from any of the community leaders, but only publish those who responded of their own volition to express their concerns over the ugly incident watched by several residents of the street.
The silence has been deafening.
It matters not one iota that the majority of the bystanders were Indians who had also made New Zealand their home, just like Praveet Singh. But shouldn’t someone have offered some assistance considering there were at least a dozen bystanders against a lone attacker?
Ethnic and mainstream media were abuzz with reports on the attack. A quick read of articles about the attack reminded me of some Bollywood movies where a few thugs would molest and abuse a few, while hundreds of villagers stood inn a circle and watched.
What sort of people are we?
Having said that, this incident raises another interesting issue of whether bystanders should risk their lives to save someone else’s.
Flashback to September 2008: Austin Hemmings, a Devonport father of three, stepped into a confrontation between a man and a woman in a downtown Auckland alleyway. The assailant, who'd previously killed a woman in Australia, stabbed Hemmings in the chest as the woman escaped.
In a report in the New Zealand Herald this week, the family of Austin Hemmings, said the attack on Praveet Singh, and the subsequent inaction of the bystanders, brought back memories of the attack and loss of their beloved family member.
“When faced with a need to help someone, a lot of people will find it difficult to get physically involved - but at least try to do something. Phone the police, call out, run for help, but do something. Do what you are capable of, but at least try," Austin’s brother, Grant, said.
Austin's father, Dick Hemmings, 84, welcomed the chance to remind people of his son and doing the right thing. "I think the fact of keeping this in the public eye will encourage people to step up to the occasion."
Meantime, Praveet Singh, still nursing bruises to her face, says she has forgiven those who failed to come to her aid during the attack. "I think it's better to forgive and move forward. It's not good for me and it's not good for them. I do hope these people realise what they did to me, and that they might react a bit directly if something like this ever happened again."
About a month ago, a 77-year-old Indian woman was attacked, also in Papatoetoe, as she went out to her backyard to take clothes off the clothesline. The attacker left only when she played dead.
The New Zealand Police, in an article in this newspaper, have emphasized the need for people to be prepared with strategies to be able to stave off such vicious assailants, and they are offering self-defence classes to kick start the campaign.
Ugly as it may be, this incident should again serve as a reminder that violence, in any shape or form, is not OK.
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