Melbourne: Two Australian teenagers have
been arrested on charges of brutally assaulting a wheelchair-
bound Canadian tourist with a metal bar in Sydney, an attack
reminiscent of the spate of incidents against Indians here.
The 35-year-old man, whose identity was not released,
was punched, stomped and beaten up at Mount Druitt train
station on Tuesday night. He is still in hospital and has had
surgery for a fractured skull.
New South Wales police said he was waiting at the station
in Sydney's west after watching a friend's band play a concert
when the two teens approached and punched him in the face
while he attempted to roll into a station lift.
He fell out of his wheelchair, was stomped on and bashed
on the head with a metal bar wrenched from his wheelchair,
causing a depressed skull wound and severe cuts, police said.
Police arrested a 16-year-old boy yesterday and produced
him in the Parramatta Children's Court on charges of causing
grievous bodily harm and armed robbery. He was refused bail.
A second alleged offender surrendered before police last
night, ABC News reported, adding that the 15-year-old appeared
on the same charges and was also refused bail. Their names
were not released because they are minors.
The attack on the Canadian man comes amid a series of
assaults, including racial, against Indians in Australia,
mostly in Melbourne.
More than 100 incidents of attacks against Indians have
been reported in Australia over the past one year. 21-year-old
student Nitin Garg, who was stabbed to death by unidentified
assailants while he was on his way to his part-time job in a
restaurant here, was the first Indian victim of such attacks
this year.
Meanwhile, the mother of the Canadian man says she is
"devastated" by the vicious attack.
The attack, captured on security video, has made
headlines across Canada, AAP reported.
"I can't believe a human being would do that to someone
else," the woman told the Canadian Press. "It's like a
savage," she said.
PTI
First Published: Thursday, March 11, 2010, 18:19