Delhi boy becomes latest victim of attack in Oz

Natasha Chaku

Melbourne, June 15 (PTI) A 20-year old Delhi boy became
the 14th victim of assault in Australia in less than a month
when he was punched and abused here, leaving him with a
fractured finger and a bloody nose.

A Deakin University student, Sunny Bajaj was attacked by
two men in Melbourne's eastern suburb on Friday night as he
was about to get into his car, he said.

"They came up to me and asked me for money, I told them
I had none and then they attacked me," Bajaj said.

Bajaj was verbally abused and then punched by the two
men, in their 20s -- one white and the other apparently of
African descent.

The student, who hails from New Delhi, said they slammed
his car door and punched him in head and stomach and then
racially abused him.

"They called me a ----ing Indian c--- why would they do
that? I said nothing to them," Bajaj said, adding he suffered
a fractured finger, bruising to his back and a bloody nose.
Bajaj, who was supposed to sit for an Accounts exam, had to
miss out on it because of the broken finger.

As the police investigates the case, the latest victim
of a series of violent attacks in Melbourne, however, refused
to dub it as one with 'a racial motive' as the attackers first
purpose was to rob him.

"I won't call it a racial attack as they first asked me
money and when I told them that I don't have it they started
bashing me and started calling me you f...Indians," he told
PTI, adding that the attackers were apparently drug addicts.

He said: "It was not too late to go out and it happened
at 8.50 pm local time near a grocery outlet while I was
leaving from the parking area".

Bajaj, however, said many of his friends had been
racially taunted, ever since the attacks started receiving
media attention.

"Few of my friends also experienced racist taunts while
they were walking. Few white men in their car called them
f...Indians and drove away," he said.

Bajaj said he was being supported by the university
authorities for rescheduling his exam.

"My parents are really worried and now asking me come
back. I don't want to go back but finish my studies," he said.

This was the 14th attack on Indian students in Australia
in less than a month. Before this a 24-year-old Indian student
from India's western state of Gujarat was attacked by a group
of men here on June 12.

Amidst growing concern that the recent spate of attacks
might hurt the education sector in the country, Education
ministers meeting in Hobart last week decided to set up a
taskforce to protect the interests of overseas students.

Indians and Chinese form a major chunk of foreign
students studying in Australia. PTI