Sydney: A young Indian man was bashed and verbally abused by a group of thugs outside his Bridge Mall shop in Australian town of Ballarat in recent racist attack.
Mayor John Burt, speaking from the victim`s bedside at Ballarat Base Hospital, said he was disgusted by the act, which left 22-year-old Himanshu Goyal with multiple fractures to his jaw.
Burt also vowed to hunt down the heartless thugs who bashed the local Indian restaurant owner in the racist attack.
According to the Age, he also expressed apology for the attack, saying that he was horrified and disgusted that this type of attack has occurred.
Goyal was bashed and verbally abused while closing his Bridge Mall eatery about 9.30pm on Friday.
Eight men, believed to be in their late teens, shouted racial abuse at Goyal while another in the group punched him in the mouth, the report said.
The Mayor said he was prepared to take a stand against racism in Ballarat.
Goyal has been told by hospital staff he will not be able to eat for more than six weeks.
Ballarat Police Senior Constable Matt Hayes said he was currently viewing CCTV footage and hoped to track down the attackers in the coming days, the report added.
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