Two Indian students attacked in Australia

MELBOURNE - Two Indian students were viciously assaulted in this Australian city late Monday night by a group of people who “made comments to the pair”, police said.

The attack comes little over three weeks after the fatal stabbing of Indian student Nitin Garg in a park in Yarraville in Melbourne.

The attackers made comments to the pair before one of the Indians was pushed to the ground and kicked at about 10.20 p.m. Monday. The 18-year-old Indian victim also suffered a wound to his left ear from what appeared to be an edged weapon, police said.

The other Indian student, a 22-year-old man, was also punched to the ground and suffered minor abrasions to the forearm, Australian news agency AAP reported.

The assailants, who were described as being of Asian appearance, fled after the attack.

Police confirmed the two victims were Indian students but could not say whether the comments made were racial.

The 18-year-old was taken to St Vincent’s Hospital with lacerations to the left ear while the 22-year-old victim did not require hospital treatment.

There has been a string of attacks on Indians in Australia with taxi drivers being targeted in some recent incidents.

Three Indian taxi drivers were attacked in different Australian cities Jan 16. While a 25-year-old Indian taxi driver was assaulted in Melbourne, two Indian taxi drivers, one of whom was a student, were attacked in Ballarat.

The attacks came a day after a man was sentenced to three months in jail for assaulting and threatening to kill another Indian taxi driver in Melbourne.

The spate of attacks on Indians in Australia has caused an outcry in India. Two of the vicious attacks proved fatal.