Melbourne:
In yet another attack on Indians in Australia, a 24-year-old student from the community was severely beaten up in western Sydney. The police, however, claimed the assault was not racially motivated.
The violent attack on the Indian student took place on the night of April 28, the 'Sydney Morning Herald' reported without identifying the victim.
He was repeatedly hit and kicked by unidentified assailants but local police said the attack was not racially motivated, according to the report.
Police said the student was walking along Amos Street, Westmead, in Sydney's west just after 7.30 pm local time when he was hit from behind.
He fell to the ground and was kicked by three men who stopped only when a passing taxi halted to help the victim. Police crime manager Adam Phillips said there was no evidence the attack was racially motivated.
The offenders said "nothing racial" to the victim and the attack followed a number of robberies surrounding train stations in the area, Phillips said.
"There have been a number of problems with people being robbed and they (attackers) are simply belting them and taking their phone and wallet and they're off," he said adding there had been "a handful" of attacks on Indian students because they were "making themselves easy victims".
Police are now carrying out a number of operations in the area and had already made 13 arrests for street robberies in the past three weeks, Phillips said.
"Again, it's because a lot of them (victims) do shift work and are walking home to their units and they are making themselves easy victims," he said.
"What we are doing is running operations at the moment trying to prevent these types of attacks and, on Monday, we are going to hand out safety flyers so they are aware of what is going on around them."
The latest attack follows a series of assaults against Indian students in Australia. 21-year-old Nitin Garg, who was stabbed to death here on January 2, was the first victim of such assaults this year.
More than 100 attacks have been reported against Indian students in Australia since June last year.