Sydney: An Australian teenager who fatally stabbed Indian student Nitin Garg in January 2010 was on Thursday jailed for 13 years.
The teenager, whose identity has been suppressed, was just 15 when he attacked Garg, 21, as he walked through Melbourne parkland to work. He stabbed him during an attempt to steal his mobile phone.
Garg, an Indian accounting graduate, managed to stagger to his workplace, a nearby burger restaurant, before collapsing with fatal stab wounds to the abdomen.
He died the next day in hospital.
The highest-profile in a string of attacks on Indian students in Australia, Garg's murder made international headlines and outraged public opinion in India, sparking accusations of widespread racism against migrants.
Diplomatic ties were tested, with Delhi condemning the killing as a "heinous crime on humanity" and "an uncivilised brutal attack on innocent Indians".
It followed a spate of muggings and beatings, accompanied by migration scams and colleges charging for substandard courses, which prompted street protests by Indians in Melbourne and Sydney in 2009.
Australia's reputation as a safe and welcoming destination for international students was badly damaged, leading to a drop-off in enrolments and sparking a government review of the tertiary education sector.
Judge Paul Coghlan on Thursday described Garg as an "innocent and random victim" but said the crime was spontaneous and he accepted that his attacker, now 17, was remorseful and had no intention of killing when he went to the park.
The judge also ruled that it was a crime of opportunity rather than race.
"The community abhors the use of knives because of the consequences such as this," Coghlan said.
The teen, who pleaded guilty to murder and attempted armed robbery, must serve at least eight years of his sentence before being eligible for parole.
The teenager, whose identity has been suppressed, was just 15 when he attacked Garg, 21, as he walked through Melbourne parkland to work. He stabbed him during an attempt to steal his mobile phone.
Garg, an Indian accounting graduate, managed to stagger to his workplace, a nearby burger restaurant, before collapsing with fatal stab wounds to the abdomen.
The highest-profile in a string of attacks on Indian students in Australia, Garg's murder made international headlines and outraged public opinion in India, sparking accusations of widespread racism against migrants.
Advertisement
It followed a spate of muggings and beatings, accompanied by migration scams and colleges charging for substandard courses, which prompted street protests by Indians in Melbourne and Sydney in 2009.
Advertisement
Judge Paul Coghlan on Thursday described Garg as an "innocent and random victim" but said the crime was spontaneous and he accepted that his attacker, now 17, was remorseful and had no intention of killing when he went to the park.
Advertisement
"The community abhors the use of knives because of the consequences such as this," Coghlan said.
Advertisement
COMMENTS
Advertisement
Indian-American Leader Claimed He Got "Racially" Targeted Online. Turns Out He Staged It 2 Brothers From Haryana Arrested For Killing Indian Student In Australia Student Stabbed To Death By Fellow Indian In Australia: Was Mediating In Row Over 300 Indian Students Return Home As 105 Bangladeshis Die In Protests "Jindal Group Executive Showed Porn, Groped Me On Flight": Woman To NDTV Full Recovery From Global IT Outage Could Take Time: 10 Points CrowdStrike Crash Raises Questions About Technological Dependency Army Readjusts Troop Deployment In Jammu Region To Counter Terror Attacks India Hints At Roles Of Pakistan, China That Could Undermine Shanghai Bloc Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.