- He suffered injuries to his face, arms, and legs and was treated at Tallaght University Hospital
- Gardai are investigating the incident as a possible hate crime following false accusations
- Justice Minister stated immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than their population share
An Indian citizen in his 40s was violently assaulted and partially stripped by a group of attackers in Tallaght, Dublin on Saturday. Photographs show him bleeding profusely with injuries on his face, arms and legs. He was taken to the Tallaght University Hospital for treatment in the evening and the Gardai (Irish National Police) have opened an investigation into the incident.
The Gardai had been alerted regarding the incident at Parkhill Road, Tallaght at approximately 6 pm.
Ambassador of India to Ireland, Akhilesh Mishra, questioned and condemned the incident on X saying, "How can an "ALLEGED" assault cause such horrible injury & bleeding?" He thanked the Irish people and the Gardai for their sympathy and support to the victim and called for the perpetrator to be brought to justice.
According to the Irish Independent, Fine Gael councillor, Baby Pereppadan for Tallaght South met the victim and said that he's in "shock", and said, "He couldn't speak much because of the shock he was in, he only arrived in Ireland three weeks ago. He is not taking any visitors at the moment."
He noted that such incidents are happening frequently in Tallaght and called for more Gardai presence in the area.
He also said, "People need to understand that many Indian people moving to Ireland are here on work permits, to study and work in the healthcare sector or in IT and so on, providing critical skills."
Sinn Fein TD for Dublin South-West, Seán Crowe, termed the attack as "violent and racist" and said that it was "vile and utterly unacceptable on so many levels".
"Anyone who thinks this sort of mindless, racist violence makes their community safer is lying and fooling no one. Some residents are increasingly nervous to leave their homes due to this type of behaviour, regardless of whether they are new arrivals to our community or have lived here all their lives.
The Irish Times has reported that the assault is being investigated as a possible hate crime. Allegedly, the man had been falsely accused by the group of acting inappropriately around children, however the Gardai said there is no truth to these accusations.
Paul Murphy, a People Before Profit TD for the area criticised the attack and said, "Responsibility lies not just with those who perpetrated the violence but also with those who have been spreading racist lies. The community is really shocked and outraged and will stand together against violence, hate and division."
Minister for Justice Jim O'Callaghan said this week he was aware that foreign nationals are being falsely accused of crimes.
"Increasingly, you hear of people blaming immigrants for crimes. All I can say to you is: I have asked for the statistics and when you look at the prison population of people convicted of offences, the percentage of immigrants in prison is lower than the percentage of immigrants in society," he said.
"So there's no substance to the suggestion that immigrants are more likely to commit a criminal offence", he added.
