Melbourne, April 14: A 23-year old Indian student was attacked, robbed and left unconscious near the city police headquarters here, leaving him with a broken nose and a seriously damaged eye, in a fresh racial incident after a brief lull in assaults on Indians here.
Neeraj Bhardwaj was approached by two drunk men when he was waiting for a tram near Melbourne Aquarium at 4 am (local time) on Easter Monday after a night out, the Age reported on Tuesday.
The men, who Bhardwaj said were white and aged in their 20s, demanded his wallet. Even after he handed it over, one man punched him several times in the face until he lost consciousness.
Bhardwaj said the men left immediately but returned about 15 minutes later and punched him again, one of them screaming: “F— off, go back to your own country”.
The assault left Bhardwaj with a damaged left eye, broken nose, headaches and sore ribs. He said the doctors told him his left eye had lost “80 to 90 per cent” of its capacity and might never recover.
—–PTI