Indian student attacked in Australia

He has been left with 20 stitches in his head after an “unprovoked” attack in Melbourne’s north-west,the ‘Age’ newspaper reported.

“The victim got off a bus at Keilor Plains train station at 12.15am on September 29 and was walking down Power Street when he was approached by two men,” police said.

They asked him for a cigarette and he gave one to both of them. As he turned to walk away,the man was hit over the head at least six times with what he believes was a “plank of wood or a baseball bat”,they said.

He was knocked unconscious and the offenders made off with his backpack,police were quoted as saying by the newspaper.

Around 30 Indian students were attacked in various cities from June to August. Last month,three Indians were “brutally bashed” by a group of around 70 youth while playing here.

Constable Kevin Squires,of Footscray police,described the attack as callous and unprovoked.

“They seemed to hanging around the station just looking for someone. They just kept whacking him in the back of the head,” he said.

One of the attackers was Caucasian and about 162 centimetres tall,aged 19 and wearing a red hoodie with a cap underneath.

The second was dark skinned,about 16 years old and about 172 centimetres tall.

Gautam Gupta,President of Federation of Indian Students in Australia,said he was planning to approach the Indian Government seeking its interfernce to stop attacks against the community members.

“I think we have to launch a stir in India to activate people and tell them that this (attacks) is going on here.

Indian Government will have to be more active and we will approach the Government,” he said.

Gupta said the visits undertaken by various Australian leaders to India were “damage control exercise” and they will not solve any problems being faced by Indian students.

The Australian Government has shown a lack of political will in preventing attacks against Indians,he said.

He also alleged that the Government was trying to put all the incidents “under carpet”. “They are tightening the grip on all these news getting out. This is not solving the problem,” he said.