Indian Cab Driver Attacked near Melbourne, Australia
- 14 years ago
Another incident of violence against an Indian immigrant in Australia has caught international attention. An Australian man threatened and assaulted an Indian cab driver in the city of Ballarat, outside Melbourne on Friday.
Paul John Brogden was apparently under the influence of alcohol when he made racial and threatening remarks to an Indian taxi driver.
Brogden then followed the driver into a service station store and assaulted him and another man nearby.
Roughly 12 hours after the alleged attack, a Victorian magistrate sentenced Brogden to three months in jail.
Earlier this month, an Indian man was stabbed to death in Melbourne, another one was set on fire and an Indian overseas student was bashed and robbed by six people on a Melbourne train.
Many feel that police are not adequately addressing the cause of these attacks and are convinced they are racially motivated.
Members of the Indian community in Ballarat found the taxi driver incident worrying.
[Unidentified Indian Resident]: (no title bar) English
"We feel safe in Ballarat but we are hearing new news, now we are scared."
Some of Brogden’s friends say he is not a racist.
But community leaders are concerned about the attack.
[Khuji Maharaj, Indian Community Leader]: (English)
"Our main concern was just to placing fear in the community and that's what we are trying to prevent it spreading into the community that one racist targeted."
Indian recording star A. R. Rahman is staging a free concert in Sydney later this month to soothe tensions between his homeland and Australia.
Paul John Brogden was apparently under the influence of alcohol when he made racial and threatening remarks to an Indian taxi driver.
Brogden then followed the driver into a service station store and assaulted him and another man nearby.
Roughly 12 hours after the alleged attack, a Victorian magistrate sentenced Brogden to three months in jail.
Earlier this month, an Indian man was stabbed to death in Melbourne, another one was set on fire and an Indian overseas student was bashed and robbed by six people on a Melbourne train.
Many feel that police are not adequately addressing the cause of these attacks and are convinced they are racially motivated.
Members of the Indian community in Ballarat found the taxi driver incident worrying.
[Unidentified Indian Resident]: (no title bar) English
"We feel safe in Ballarat but we are hearing new news, now we are scared."
Some of Brogden’s friends say he is not a racist.
But community leaders are concerned about the attack.
[Khuji Maharaj, Indian Community Leader]: (English)
"Our main concern was just to placing fear in the community and that's what we are trying to prevent it spreading into the community that one racist targeted."
Indian recording star A. R. Rahman is staging a free concert in Sydney later this month to soothe tensions between his homeland and Australia.