Weeks after the External Affairs Minister SM Krishna visited Australia for an assurance that the government would do all it can to safeguard Indian students Down Under, another grim reminder of how little things have changed.

Two students and their uncle were brutally beaten up by a group of 80 people including women in Melbourne's eastern suburb of Epping. The three were heckled as they played pool and then attacked with bottles in a car park when they decided to leave, the attackers shouted go back to India.

One of the victims Sukhdev, who has been in Australia for the six months says that most of the attackers were in their early twenties.

Another victim Mukhtiar Singh is a cab driver and has been living in Australia for the last 22 years. His 21-year-old son was also attacked.

The police has taken pictures of Sukdev at the hospital. Sukhdev has a broken jaw and has trouble eating and drinking. The doctors say that he might have problems with his memory since he got injured on the head. His condition will be monitored over the next few days.

Mukhtiar Singh's son, who is born and brought up in Australia and is a citizen of the country, has suffered a broken tooth in the attack.

The attackers were shouting 'go back to India'. "When they reached the car park to leave the place a huge crowd attacked them and started bashing them brutally. The attackers were in their teens and around twenties," said Onkar Singh, one of the victims' relative.

Onkar claimed the police have informed him that six of the 80 attackers have been arrested.

A Victoria Police spokesperson has reportedly said that before the incident took place, a woman made a racist remark to a group of four males playing pool at Legends Bar.

The attacks come a month after the Australian government assured External Affairs Minister S M Krishna, during his visit here, that Indian students would be protected. Around 30 Indian students were attacked in various cities from June to August. (With PTI inputs)