Two elderly Sikh taxi drivers were attacked outside a UK Railway Station in what police are investigating as a racially aggravated assault. The men say they feared for their lives during the unprovoked attack.
"I think that I am dead when he threw me and punched me," Satnam Singh, 64, who was badly bruised and lost his turban during the assault, told the BBC.
Jasbir Sangha, 72, also described the attack as sudden and terrifying. He suffered two broken ribs. "I was just trying to defend myself. It happened so quickly, and I was on the floor. All I see afterwards was one of the guys kicking me. Anything could have happened. Anything. I could have been killed."
The incident occurred earlier this month, and British Transport Police said a 17-year-old boy and two men, aged 19 and 25, were arrested in connection with the assault at Wolverhampton Railway Station. They were later released on bail.
Both drivers said they were at work outside the station when three men approached Mr Singh, making demands while swearing and using racist language. Mr Singh was pushed to the ground, and when Mr Sangha tried to intervene, the attackers turned on him.
Mr Singh, whose turban covers uncut hair and is one of the major religious commitments, described the moment he lost it. "When he put me on the floor... when I get up after, I try to sit [and] when I look, I have no turban on my head... that time I am feeling I am dead."
He added that the attack had made him "very sad and scared."
The attack was filmed by bystanders and has been viewed over a million times on social media.
Mr Sangha said, "When I saw the video, it was so scary for me, it could have killed me."
He described the pain as intense, saying that even simple movements like sitting, standing, or sneezing were agonising and left his body in "hell of a pain."
Both men praised the public for intervening. Mr Sangha said, "The people were very helpful. They were shouting at them, 'What are you doing?'. I really thank them for their help."
The Shiromani Akali Dal chief, Sukhbir Singh Badal, condemned the act and appealed to Foreign Minister S Jaishankar to raise the safety of Sikh expatriates with the UK government.
