Melbourne: It's among the favoured destination for hundreds of students every year but four attacks on Indians in three weeks have the over 90,000 Indian students in Australia worried.
Reports have come in of two more attacks on Indian students in Australia, this after there were two attacks over the weekend on Indian students in Melbourne.
In a fresh incident of racial attack on Indians in Australia, a 25-year old student was stabbed in Melbourne, even as another youth from Andhra Pradesh was battling for life after an assault by local teenagers.
Baljinder Singh was stabbed by two men in the abdomen as he was leaving a railway station. The two attackers apparently asked Baljinder to hand over his wallet but even before he could do so they stabbed him in the stomach.
Baljinder Singh, 25 was attacked on Monday night when two men carrying weapons approached him, the 'Herald Sun' reported.
The attackers demanded money and as Singh was searching through his bag to hand over his wallet he was stabbed in the abdomen. As Singh screamed for his life, his attackers laughed and fled the scene, the report said.
"I bent down and one guy stabbed me," Singh said adding "I just wanted to save my life and yelled "just don't kill me."
"They just laughed when they stabbed me in the stomach. They laughed at me. I was screaming." Singh was quoted saying that he believed that the city was a safe place to live, but was now convinced that Indian nationals are being targeted as easy prey.
"We're not safe here now," he said adding, "I thought it was safe here, that's why I came to Australia."
Now there are lots of attacks and you can see that in the western suburbs, but I thought Carnegie was the safest place in Melbourne, Singh added.
Baljinder is now recovering in hospital, he says he pleaded with his attackers to let him go but they just laughed and ran away.
In another attack, 25 year-old Rajesh Kumar suffered 30 per cent burns after a petrol bomb was thrown at him through his window. His flat-mate quickly wrapped him in a blanket and took him to hospital.
The Australian police have arrested two teenagers they say were involved in that alleged racist attack on Saurabh Sharma in a Melbourne train. He was attacked over the weekend.
Twenty one-year-old Saurabh was beaten up and robbed by a group of teenagers in a train on May 9. Police are now questioning the two boys, aged 16 and 18, after searching two homes on Thursday. CCTV footage of the incident helped police identify the alleged attackers. Police are still searching for three other males in relation to the assault. (With PTI inputs)