Melbourne [Australia], July 27 (ANI): A 33-year-old Indian-origin man was brutally attacked with a machete by a group of teenagers in Melbourne’s Altona Meadows, marking the second violent assault on Indians in Australia within a week.
According to Australia Today, Saurabh Anand was ambushed by five teenagers around 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, July 19, while walking home after buying medicine from a pharmacy at the Central Square Shopping Centre.
Anand told The Age that he was on a phone call when he noticed a sudden movement beside him. “I didn’t hear a sound,” he recalled. One of the teens reportedly began searching his pockets, while another punched him in the head until he collapsed. A third assailant then held a machete to his throat.
“They didn’t stop there,” Anand said. “My instinctive reaction was to bring my arm up to protect my face and wrist. While I was trying to protect myself, the machete just went through my wrist. The second attack went through my hand. The third went through the bone.”
Anand suffered severe injuries, including a fractured spine, deep wounds on his shoulder and back, broken bones in his arm, and head trauma. “All I remember is the pain and my hand was … hanging by a thread,” he said.
Despite his critical condition and heavy bleeding, Anand managed to stagger out of the shopping center and call for help. “I saw someone and I just yelled out, ‘I’ve been attacked. Please help me,’” he recounted.
Bystanders came to his aid and called emergency services. He was rushed to the Royal Melbourne Hospital in critical condition. Initially, doctors feared his left hand would need to be amputated. However, after hours of emergency surgery—including the insertion of screws into his wrist and hand—surgeons were able to save the limb.
This is the second violent incident involving an Indian-origin individual reported in Australia within a week. On July 23, a 23-year-old Indian man, Charanpreet Singh, was reportedly attacked in Adelaide during a racially motivated assault tied to a car parking dispute.
Singh told 9News that a group of men approached him, hurled racist slurs, and physically assaulted him. “They just said ‘f— off, Indian,’ and after that, they just started punching,” he said. “I tried to fight back, but they beat me until I was unconscious.”
Singh suffered brain trauma and multiple facial fractures and was hospitalized for treatment.
In a separate incident, the Shree Swaminarayan Temple in Boronia, a Melbourne suburb, was vandalized with racial slurs. Graffiti reading “Go Home Brown C**t” was spray-painted on the temple walls and nearby Asian-owned restaurants, Australia Today reported.
Makrand Bhagwat, President of the Hindu Council of Australia (Victoria chapter), expressed shock and deep concern over the attack on the temple.
These repeated acts of violence have alarmed the Indian diaspora in Australia. Local authorities are investigating all incidents, and efforts are ongoing to identify and apprehend the perpetrators. (ANI)
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