The family of an Indian student in New Zealand who was stabbed by fellow Indians due to personal enmity has been granted protection by the Delhi high court after they moved an application seeking relief from threats and harassment at the hands of the relatives of the accused.

Nikhil Arora, 24, was stabbed by a fellow Indian and his associates over dispute on money in June 2016. In the middle of the trial in New Zealand, some men in November 2017, as alleged by his parents who live in Paschim Vihar, began harassing them.

We were sitting in front of our grocery shop when some men attacked us. They held my wife by her throat and threatened to shoot us if our son pursued the case in New Zealand. They asked us to convey it to our son that if he does not change his statement he will be shot when he returns. They even said that my daughter will be kidnapped if we did not do as they want, said Dharamveer Arora, father of Nikhil, told Mail Today.

According to Nikhil's statement, he was under a lot of financial pressure at the time of the incident, mainly because of his recent break-up with his girlfriend on whom he had allegedly spent a lot of money on buying gifts and secondly there was a colleague at his workplace who took a large amount of cash from him on the pretext of going to India but never returned. This colleague allegedly harassed him at workplace. He even took his speakers without Nikhil's knowledge. And when Nikhil took them back, he was attacked by this colleague and his men.

The couple was attacked on two such occasions.

The second assault took place three days after the first one. The second time, the couple was not only threatened but in the evening, Nikhils mother and his sister were followed and stalked by unknown men.

The parents allege that although the accused have been convicted in March, their son has not been able to return due to threat to his life.

Moreover, the parents told the court through advocate Rishipal Singh that after the incident, the police have taken no action on their complaint. They were forced to file a complaint before the court, which has been pending.

The New Zealand court handed nine-year imprisonment to the accused who stabbed Nikhil on the chest with a pair of scissors.

Taking the situation into account, Justice Najmi Waziri passed directions to the SHO to ensure protection to Nikhils family based on the threat assessment. The court also asked the police to provide the phone numbers of two police officials of the area and any communication or message on those numbers should not go unanswered. The police will also carry out a weekly assessment of the safety and security of the family, said the court.

Nikhil has applied for refugee and protection status from the government of New Zealand fearing threat to his life. According to the assessment by Refugee and Protection Officer it has been suggested that Nikhil could be relocated to some other city in India. As a result, he would not only be able to live in his country but also feel safe as the accused may not be able to track him down without knowing his exact location.