Australians who blinded Indian get away lightly

MELBOURNE - None of the Australians who thrashed an Indian student leaving him partially blind has got custodial sentences, with the last of the teenagers getting a suspended jail term Wednesday.

The teenagers who viciously attacked the Indian in March 2008 outside a Melbourne suburban train station have not even been locked up, the Herald Sun reported.

One of the teenagers, Majang Ngor, was given a suspended jail term and community work over the attack.

The rest of the gang members, aged under 18 at the time of the incident, were recently sentenced in the Children’s Court and given nine-month supervision orders.

The Indian victim, an accounting student, had walked his friend to Sunshine train station to meet the friend’s wife when she came home from work.

They were accosted by a gang member who demanded a dollar before hitting the student in the face, the County Court was told Wednesday.

Other members of the group pounced on the victim who was kicked and punched as he lay helpless on the ground.

They then turned on his friend, who had come to the victim’s aid.

The Indian student suffered a fractured eye socket, broken nose and an injured right eye that will never recover its sight. His friend was knocked unconscious and suffered a bloodied nose and minor injuries.

The incident was captured on CCTV and police nabbed Ngor almost a year later.

He told investigators that one of the group had suggested they go “hustling” after drinking at a party that night.

Judge Susan Cohen said Ngor had worked hard since the incident to distance himself from a bad crowd and reform himself.

“For the rest to join in was both cowardly and senseless and reflected a pack reaction,” Cohen was quoted as saying.

But the matter was “less serious” than if weapons had been used, she said.

The judge imposed an eight-month jail term suspended for 15 months and a community based order with 40 hours of work, saying the community would benefit most from his rehabilitation.