Sydney /Dublin, July 23: A 23-year-old Indian student was hospitalised with serious injuries following a suspected racially motivated attack in the Australian city of Adelaide, while a separate assault on an Indian national in Ireland has prompted widespread condemnation and diplomatic concern.
Charanpreet Singh, a student residing in Adelaide, was violently assaulted by a group of five men near Kintore Avenue in the city centre on Saturday evening, according to South Australia Police and local media reports.
Singh and his wife had parked their vehicle to view the city’s Illuminate light installations when the men, some allegedly armed with metal knuckles and sharp objects, approached them and demanded that Singh move his car. The group allegedly shouted racial abuse before launching into the attack.
“They just said ‘f*** off, Indian,’ and after that, they just started punching,” Singh told 9News from his hospital bed. He was dragged from his vehicle, stomped on, and left unconscious. Singh suffered brain trauma, multiple facial fractures, a broken nose, and eye injuries requiring surgery.
Police responded to emergency calls at around 9:30 p.m. local time and found Singh severely injured on the ground. One 20-year-old man from Enfield was arrested and charged with assault causing harm. He has since been released on bail as authorities search for the remaining four suspects.
CCTV footage and a video of the incident circulating on social media are aiding the ongoing investigation. South Australia Premier Peter Malinauskas condemned the violence, describing it as “deeply disturbing.” “Any time we see any evidence of a racial attack, it is completely unwelcome in our state and just not consistent with where the majority of our community are at,” he said.
Assault in Ireland
In a separate incident, an Indian man in his 40s was assaulted in the Tallaght suburb of Dublin over the weekend in what Irish authorities are investigating as a possible hate crime.
The man, who had arrived in Ireland only three weeks earlier, was attacked on Parkhill Road on Saturday evening. The victim, reportedly still in shock, is not receiving visitors, according to local councillor Baby Pereppadan of the Fine Gael party.
The Indian Ambassador to Ireland called for swift justice and urged local authorities to bring the perpetrators to account. Irish police, known as the Gardai, have opened a formal investigation.
The twin incidents have sparked concern among the Indian diaspora and raised fresh questions over the safety of Indian nationals abroad, particularly in light of recent reports of racially motivated violence in Western nations.
