Car break-in leaves a Indian honeymoon couple distraught in New Zealand
A high flying Indian honeymooner couple who had arrived in New Zealand for the last leg of their 33 days, three-nation honeymoon sojourn are left “unimpressed” with less than empathetic response from New Zealand Police after their car was broken and valuables worth of $(USD) 20,000 were taken away late in the night in Rotorua on Saturday, March 26.
The visiting couple Hemant Manglani and Bani Sachdev had arrived after completing 15 days of Australian tour and were looking forward to a 13 day stay in the country that included a complete north to south drive apart from the normal adventure and fun activities.
However, the incident has forced them to cut short their trip and return to India loosing behind all pre-paid travel and accommodation arrangements.
Indian Weekender spoke exclusively with the couple to know more about their unpleasant experience.
More than the financial loss, the couple appeared “unimpressed” with the lack of compassion and help available for the distraught foreign couple late in the night, ninety miles away from their nearest pre-booked accommodation, devoid of any cash, in a car with a broken window and without any navigation system in place as two of their iPhones were also taken away.
The incident happened when the visiting couple’s car was broken from a supposedly safe parking lot of Rotorua's famous Hell’s Gate, a thermal reserve and spa and wellness centre, on the second day of their 13-day pre-booked honeymoon travel in New Zealand.
The couple came to know at around 9 p.m. that their rented car was disturbed and valuables including passports, iPhones (6 and 6 +), Mack book, Bose speakers, multiple hard disks, portable charger, adapters, accessories, two sunglasses, headphones and a Burberry wallet containing cash had been taken away.
What followed from there was a tale of disbelief and disgust if not altogether “harrowing,” according to the distraught couple.
The couple were told by the helpful staff at Hell’s Gate who had already noted about the break-in at around 8 p.m., almost one hour before the victims came to know and had called the Police informing about the break-in and suspicious movements of few people in their car park.
The couple felt it was right to call the police again not only to request someone to come immediately to examine the crime scene but also to get further assistance for their future course of action in this foreign country.
“However, our expectations about the New Zealand police was badly shaken as our experience did not match with the image of smiling Police faces that we carry in our minds before coming to this country,” Hemant Maglani bemoans.
Immediately after speaking to a police communications team member over the phone, Mr Maglani checked if he could still track his iPhones and to his surprise, he found that not only he was able to track them, but they were also located just five minutes away from the Hells Gate.
Buoyed by this information and hopeful of getting immediate police assistance, Mr Maglani tried calling Police again hoping to be able to speak with the same person with whom he had spoken just a while ago, but was frustrated to find himself speaking with different persons over the phone explaining the same situation repeatedly.
The result remained the same and Police did not arrive at the scene.
Meanwhile, another Indian honeymooner couple travelling separately in New Zealand who was present at the scene and witness to this couple’s miseries offered to show them the way to the nearest Police station in a hope to speak with actual Police personal.
On arriving at the Police station which was closed, they were surprised that they were made to wait out in the cold before someone became available to meet them.
The couple recalls that they were made to wait out in the cold night for a couple of hours before actual police official met them and let inside the police station.
Precisely, the couple were “not impressed” with the supposed cold and uncompassionate conversation they had with the Police officials inside the police station.
The conversation may have drifted away from a normal compassionate conversation to slightly offending statements about their current situation.
“At one instance they laughingly said that don’t worry no one is going to beat you up here now,” Mr Maglani alleges.
“We expected basic empathy at our situation at that time of the night, as we were without much cash and resources to find our way.
At the end the official was on the phone with victim support for around 20 minutes; however we were told that even victim support could be of any help at this time of the day.” Mr Maglani alleges.
Finally, as a last-ditch effort and couple’s persistence of seeing help to reach to their pre-booked accommodation in Taupo, ninety kilometres away, police offered to join a police vehicle travelling late in the night towards Taupo.
Meanwhile, Mr Maglani had continued to track his iphones, which surprisingly kept moving along with them towards Taupo, suggesting that the thieves were also travelling in the same direction, thus adding to their anxiety.
Mr Maglani claims to have shared all the information about the location of the stolen devices with one of other friendly staff on emergency line over the emails.
However, not everything was wrong in the couple’s New Zealand sojourn as the Hotel Millennium Taupo, where they eventually stayed helped them generously with food, compassion, toiletries, and $50 cash.
The couple acknowledges and sincerely appreciates their gesture and support.
Meanwhile, Rotorua Area Commander Inspector Anaru Pewhairangi confirms the incident and reiterates that all necessary actions were taken to support the victim.
According to Mr Pewhairangi, Police had sent units to make enquiries in the addresses referred by the pair but failed to find the phone and also offered victim support services.
“Further to that, because they no longer had mobile phones, Police also arranged for them to follow a Police vehicle to Taupo to ensure they could find their way to their next destination,” Mr Pewhairangi further asserts.
Regardless of this assurance, the distraught couple has chosen to cancel their remaining tour to New Zealand and fly back to India.
However, the couple were extremely happy with the prompt and personal initiative taken by the Indian High Commissioner to New Zealand Sanjeev Kohli who took personal interest to immediately issue alternative travel documents to the stranded couple.
Their travel insurance does not cover theft and robbery and only provides for a claim of worth $250 per person for the loss of passport and a maximum of $500 for any change of itinerary due to last minute emergencies.
A high flying Indian honeymooner couple who had arrived in New Zealand for the last leg of their 33 days, three-nation honeymoon sojourn are left “unimpressed” with less than empathetic response from New Zealand Police after their car was broken and valuables worth of $(USD) 20,000 were taken away...
A high flying Indian honeymooner couple who had arrived in New Zealand for the last leg of their 33 days, three-nation honeymoon sojourn are left “unimpressed” with less than empathetic response from New Zealand Police after their car was broken and valuables worth of $(USD) 20,000 were taken away late in the night in Rotorua on Saturday, March 26.
The visiting couple Hemant Manglani and Bani Sachdev had arrived after completing 15 days of Australian tour and were looking forward to a 13 day stay in the country that included a complete north to south drive apart from the normal adventure and fun activities.
However, the incident has forced them to cut short their trip and return to India loosing behind all pre-paid travel and accommodation arrangements.
Indian Weekender spoke exclusively with the couple to know more about their unpleasant experience.
More than the financial loss, the couple appeared “unimpressed” with the lack of compassion and help available for the distraught foreign couple late in the night, ninety miles away from their nearest pre-booked accommodation, devoid of any cash, in a car with a broken window and without any navigation system in place as two of their iPhones were also taken away.
The incident happened when the visiting couple’s car was broken from a supposedly safe parking lot of Rotorua's famous Hell’s Gate, a thermal reserve and spa and wellness centre, on the second day of their 13-day pre-booked honeymoon travel in New Zealand.
The couple came to know at around 9 p.m. that their rented car was disturbed and valuables including passports, iPhones (6 and 6 +), Mack book, Bose speakers, multiple hard disks, portable charger, adapters, accessories, two sunglasses, headphones and a Burberry wallet containing cash had been taken away.
What followed from there was a tale of disbelief and disgust if not altogether “harrowing,” according to the distraught couple.
The couple were told by the helpful staff at Hell’s Gate who had already noted about the break-in at around 8 p.m., almost one hour before the victims came to know and had called the Police informing about the break-in and suspicious movements of few people in their car park.
The couple felt it was right to call the police again not only to request someone to come immediately to examine the crime scene but also to get further assistance for their future course of action in this foreign country.
“However, our expectations about the New Zealand police was badly shaken as our experience did not match with the image of smiling Police faces that we carry in our minds before coming to this country,” Hemant Maglani bemoans.
Immediately after speaking to a police communications team member over the phone, Mr Maglani checked if he could still track his iPhones and to his surprise, he found that not only he was able to track them, but they were also located just five minutes away from the Hells Gate.
Buoyed by this information and hopeful of getting immediate police assistance, Mr Maglani tried calling Police again hoping to be able to speak with the same person with whom he had spoken just a while ago, but was frustrated to find himself speaking with different persons over the phone explaining the same situation repeatedly.
The result remained the same and Police did not arrive at the scene.
Meanwhile, another Indian honeymooner couple travelling separately in New Zealand who was present at the scene and witness to this couple’s miseries offered to show them the way to the nearest Police station in a hope to speak with actual Police personal.
On arriving at the Police station which was closed, they were surprised that they were made to wait out in the cold before someone became available to meet them.
The couple recalls that they were made to wait out in the cold night for a couple of hours before actual police official met them and let inside the police station.
Precisely, the couple were “not impressed” with the supposed cold and uncompassionate conversation they had with the Police officials inside the police station.
The conversation may have drifted away from a normal compassionate conversation to slightly offending statements about their current situation.
“At one instance they laughingly said that don’t worry no one is going to beat you up here now,” Mr Maglani alleges.
“We expected basic empathy at our situation at that time of the night, as we were without much cash and resources to find our way.
At the end the official was on the phone with victim support for around 20 minutes; however we were told that even victim support could be of any help at this time of the day.” Mr Maglani alleges.
Finally, as a last-ditch effort and couple’s persistence of seeing help to reach to their pre-booked accommodation in Taupo, ninety kilometres away, police offered to join a police vehicle travelling late in the night towards Taupo.
Meanwhile, Mr Maglani had continued to track his iphones, which surprisingly kept moving along with them towards Taupo, suggesting that the thieves were also travelling in the same direction, thus adding to their anxiety.
Mr Maglani claims to have shared all the information about the location of the stolen devices with one of other friendly staff on emergency line over the emails.
However, not everything was wrong in the couple’s New Zealand sojourn as the Hotel Millennium Taupo, where they eventually stayed helped them generously with food, compassion, toiletries, and $50 cash.
The couple acknowledges and sincerely appreciates their gesture and support.
Meanwhile, Rotorua Area Commander Inspector Anaru Pewhairangi confirms the incident and reiterates that all necessary actions were taken to support the victim.
According to Mr Pewhairangi, Police had sent units to make enquiries in the addresses referred by the pair but failed to find the phone and also offered victim support services.
“Further to that, because they no longer had mobile phones, Police also arranged for them to follow a Police vehicle to Taupo to ensure they could find their way to their next destination,” Mr Pewhairangi further asserts.
Regardless of this assurance, the distraught couple has chosen to cancel their remaining tour to New Zealand and fly back to India.
However, the couple were extremely happy with the prompt and personal initiative taken by the Indian High Commissioner to New Zealand Sanjeev Kohli who took personal interest to immediately issue alternative travel documents to the stranded couple.
Their travel insurance does not cover theft and robbery and only provides for a claim of worth $250 per person for the loss of passport and a maximum of $500 for any change of itinerary due to last minute emergencies.
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