Indian student brutally assaulted in Adelaide, suffers brain trauma, eye injuries

A 23-year-old Indian student was brutally attacked in central Adelaide, Australia, in a suspected racist attack and suffered brain trauma, multiple facial fractures, a broken nose, and serious eye injuries, reports 9News. The video of the suspected hate crime in Adelaide has gone viral on social media. The incident has shaken the Indian student community across Australia.
As per reports, Charanpreet Singh and his wife had parked their car near Kintore Avenue in the heart of the city on Saturday, July 19, at approximately 9.22 pm local time, to see the light installations. According to police and witness reports, a vehicle pulled up beside them and five men emerged, some of them allegedly wielding metal knuckles or sharp objects, and demanded Singh move his car.

Attackers wielding metal knuckles hurled racial abuses

Without any provocation, the attackers reportedly started shouting racial abuses, saying “F*** off, Indian” to Singh before launching a violent assault. Singh was punched through his car window, stomped, and assaulted both with weapons and bare fists.

“They just said ‘f*** off, Indian’, and after that they just started punching,” 9News quoted him as saying. “I tried to fight back, but they beat me until I was unconscious.”

Singh was rushed to the Royal Adelaide Hospital, where doctors said he suffered brain trauma, multiple facial fractures, a broken nose, and serious eye injuries, necessitating overnight stay and surgical intervention.

Cops arrest 20-year-old man, search for 4 others

South Australia Police responded to reports received just before 9:30 pm and found Singh lying on the ground, severely injured. They arrested a 20-year-old man from Enfield on Sunday and charged him with assault causing harm. The suspect was later released on bail as authorities continue to search for the remaining four attackers.

Police have retrieved CCTV footage from the busy precinct, which features well-lit streets and public cameras near cultural sites and the University of Adelaide.

A video of the attack has also gone viral on social media. Singh spoke to 9News from his hospital bed and said, “Things like this, when they happen, it makes you feel like you should go back… You can change anything in your body, but you can’t change the colour.”

South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas strongly condemned the violence, calling it “deeply disturbing” and stressing that such racially motivated attacks have “no place in our state.”

“Any time we see any evidence of any racial attack, it is completely unwelcome in our state and just not consistent with where the majority of our community are at,” the Premier said.

Hate crime against Indian in Ireland

An Indian man in his 40s was hospitalised following what has been dubbed “mindless, racist violence” in a suburb of the Irish capital of Dublin, with the Indian Ambassador to Ireland calling for the perpetrators to be brought to justice.

According to local reports, the victim had arrived in Ireland a few weeks ago when he was targeted in an assault at Parkhill Road in Tallaght on Saturday evening. The Gardai, as the police are known in Ireland, have started investigation in the case.

The ‘Irish Independent’ newspaper reported that the Fine Gael party Councillor for Tallaght South, Baby Pereppadan, met with the man on Monday and said he remains in “shock”.

“He couldn’t speak much because of the shock he was in, he only arrived in Ireland three weeks ago. He is not taking any visitors at the moment,” Pereppadan told the newspaper.