A chilling video released by the police in Alabama, US, shows an officer throwing an Indian grandfather to the ground, leaving him limp and unable to move. 57-year-old Sureshbhai Patel was left partially paralysed after the assault just outside his son's home in Madison City.
The officer who violently threw him down, Eric Parker, has been arrested and faces assault charges.
He is heard in the video repeating that the man "can't speak a lick of English." Mr Patel is apparently immobile as he is cuffed. The video shows that he is unable to stand and his knees buckle when a third officer joins them and asks, "Can you stand up?" Concern slowly becomes evident in their voices.
The Madison police have apologised to Mr Patel's family for the incident, which is being
investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The attack left him bleeding from the face and in need of surgery for fused vertebrae.
Mr Patel had arrived in the US only a week earlier to help his son Chirag care for his baby boy. He took a walk every morning, said Chirag, an engineer who recently bought the home in Madison.
On February 6, Mr Patel was on his stroll when he was stopped by the police officers, who had received a call from a neighbor about a "suspicious person walking up driveways and peeking into garages."
Mr Patel had reportedly indicated that he did not speak English and repeated his son's house number while pointing towards it. Audio transcripts reveal he said "India" many times. Within moments, he was slammed into the sidewalk and could not put out his hands to break his fall. His son says he could not move one leg at all.
The Madison police say Eric Parker used unnecessary force on Mr Patel, who "committed no crime, did not speak English and could not understand their commands."
The family has filed an 11-page lawsuit that alleges that Mr Patel's civil rights were violated.