09 April,2009 11:05 AM IST | | Agencies
A 78-year-old Indian immigrant, who said to have lived by the principles of Mahatma Gandhi, has been beaten to death in a road rage incident in New Zealand.
Jasmatbhai Pancha Patel died in Auckland Hospital yesterday afternoon, a day after he was pulled from his car and beaten following what witnesses described as a minor vehicle collision in suburban Mount Albert.
Patel emigrated to New Zealand 33 years ago and lived with his two sons, their wives and five grandchildren, helping at the family fruit market.
"He was the head of the family, totally Indian style ... looking after the sons and then the grandchildren," said his 53-year-old son, George Patel. The attack outside a primary school was seen by dozens of horrified school children.
Police charged a 27-year-old student, Bio O'Brien, an immigrant from the Pacific island state of Tuvalu, with assaulting Patel and said he will appear in court today.
