The trial continues of the two youths accused of the murder of small business owner Arun Kumar. Mr Kumar  was stabbed three times, once in the neck leaving a mark on his vertebrae, during an armed hold up of his shop in Henderson, West Auckland in June 2014.

In June last year we wrote about how the confidence of the Indian community in New Zealand had been shattered by the death of Mr Kumar. The young thugs (aged 12 and 13 at the time of the attack) went in to Mr Kumar’s store armed with a metal pole and a knife. They are responsible for his death and are a symptom of the country’s rapid decline into poverty and hopelessness,  a society that is literally “breeding criminals.”

New Zealand Indian Central Association (NZICA) President Harshad Patel said that the offender in this case was not discouraged by the CCTV camera operating in the Dairy, since the footage has no immediate effect and the ‘monster did not care about the consequences.’

“Breeding criminals”

“This beast is a creation of the wider community. By accepting children on the streets during school hours, by supporting parents who do not look after their children and by allowing gangs to proliferate, we are breeding criminals at an alarming pace. The offender knows that human rights exist for his security,” he said… read on

People in Mr Kumar’s community said youth crime had been escalating in the area for months. A week after Mr Kumar died a 15 year old schoolboy was the victim of an aggravated (knife) robbery and beaten up by a gang of 6-8 males. A few days later a taxi driver’s wrist was slashed by a teen with a broken bottle.

“It’s just the youth of today. Something needs to be done. “In the two years I’ve been working here I’ve just seen Henderson, and West Auckland in general, it’s plummeted. It’s dangerous, no one is safe.”

Fiza Mohammed, 39, said there was such a problem with youths on the streets she didn’t want to walk home any more. Shopkeepers in stores neighbouring Mr Kumar’s said they were scared following the stabbing…source

We know that when Mr Kumar died the boys’ 4 parents were either in jail, had criminal records, or were facing active criminal charges:

• The 13 year old’s (charged with murder and assault with intent to rob) mother was in prison and he was being cared for by his grandmother. The lack of a positive male role model is often a common factor in youth offending in New Zealand.SHe was charged with illegally taking a car, entering a house intending to commit a crime and breaching bail

• The 12 year old’s (charged with manslaughter and intent to rob) father was also in custody on “four charges of aggravated robbery, committing burglary with a weapon, threatening to kill or cause grievous bodily harm, and unlawful assembly…” source. There are hints of gang involvement, and whispers that the boys were being initiated into a gang at the time of the robbery.

Both mothers have also been taken to tenancy tribunals for not paying rent and extensively damaging properties.

Intergenerational crime and violence appears to be a problem in New Zealand’s society, and there’s a general perception kids can literally get away with murder, criminal sanctions hold no fear for them when their own parents lead by example.

We’re not going to dicus the “harrowing scenes“ in Arun Kumar’s murder trial. Nor the fact his widow watched him die and was traumatised by her desperate attempt to save his life. We won’t comment on the police saying they found it easy to follow the blood trail to find his killers.

Nor are we going to comment on the verbal bashing Mrs Kumar received on the witness stand which reduced her to tears. Nor the argument that the elder boy did or didn’t have murderous intent, and the other had “cherubic face” and appeared to be “hyped up” before the robbery (code for taking drugs)  Multiple stab wounds, one to the carotid artery, don’t simply happen by accident. That is for the jury to decide. source

The boys were heard boasting the robbery would make them rich, that it would change their lives. It did the latter, and the lives of many more.

What the New Zealand criminal justice system has to decide now is how it is going to change the lives of these juvenile criminals? Does it have the guts to say enough is enough? Crimes like these will no longer tolerated or explained away or justified in New Zealand.

And most importantly, how it is going to stop New Zealand from building criminals at an alarming rate?

You may also be interested in

Scottish tourist Karen Aim’s murderer pleads guilty. “Karen Aim’s 15 year old killer Jahche Te Manawa Kaha Brougton pleaded guilty and spared her family the ordeal of sitting through what was likely to be a long court case…” source

NZ’s murderous teens “A 15 year old Canterbury teen stabbed a Ashburton mother Sina Solomona to death in her own home and raped her…13 year old Jordan Nelson was jailed for 18 years for the murder of Rosemaree Kurth, he shot her in the back of the head at a home in Okoki North Taranaki…Two youths  aged 14 and 15  were charged with the assault of  elderly Polish man,  Roman Skorek,  whose body was found in Kuirau Park.” source