Indian students’ cars torched in Australia

M.today

Sydney, Australia, July13:   A group of international students, mostly Indians, in the Australian city of Adelaide are living in constant fear after a gang fire-bombed three of their cars on Tuesday.

It is the latest incident in a series of continuing attacks that have damaged 12 cars in three months.

The students, who live in a block of 13 South Australian Student Housing Association units in Greenacres, say the fire-bomb attack has left them worried.
 
Adelaide Now quoted Yasif Multani, 28, as saying that a group of up to 15 local teenagers were believed to be responsible for the string of attacks.

Two vehicles owned by Multani were torched in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

 

He said the attacks had led to more than 12 cars being damaged in the past three months, mails being stolen from letter boxes, racist graffiti being painted and garbage bins being emptied on the streets.
 
Car windscreens have also been smashed in the complex and one night a couch on a veranda was set ablaze.
 
Multani said, "a friend of his saw a teenager on a bicycle throw a petrol bomb through the windscreen of a car early Tuesday."
 
"These people know when we are here and when we are working. They watch us. They know everything we do. They know which cars are ours and they have not damaged the cars of non-international students parked in this area.
 
"People are scared. At night time (the offenders) are banging on the doors and running away, and fires have been lit close to some units," Multani was quoted as saying.
 
Superintendent Barry Lewis, officer in charge of the Holden Hill Local Service Area, said: "This is very concerning."
 
"There are some youths living nearby in that area creating a bit of an issue - three of them are already in custody.
 
"We have had an operation running in the area and since this has happened overnight, we have the tactical team back in operation to work out who the offenders are and bring them in."
 
He, however, said he didn’t believe the attacks were racially motivated.
 
"The fact that there are people with overseas names listed as owners of those cars does not mean that it was racially motivated."
 
The media report quoted another resident as saying that the attacks were "clearly racially motivated".
 
"On the same street there are around five to 10 other cars parked at night times, but it is always only the cars of international students which are attacked," the student said.




Indian attacked for money in Oz phone booth

Melbourne, Jul 14

A 23-year-old Indian student was brutally attacked in a phone booth here by three assailants who stole 80 dollars from his wallet after repeatedly punching him on his head and face and leaving him unconscious, an Australian court was told on Wednesday.

The Victorian County Court heard that Aleksander Trifunovic drove his two other friends Shayne Comensoli and Lennon Metaxas around Melbourne’s west, looking for an Indian person to rob on a night of last October, the AAP reported.

The 20-year-old Comensoli and Metaxas, who had been drinking at a local hotel, then spotted Indian student Lucky Singh in a phone booth in Sunshine. The two got out of their car and attacked him about 1.30 am (local time).

Prosecutor Amelia Macknay said the attack was due to the perception that Indians are known for keeping cash with them. Metaxas kept punching Singh repeatedly while the victim screamed in pain and fear. Comensoli told the victim  "’Shut up, you Indian’...," and then said, "’now it’s my turn’".

The victim was hit up to 20 times on his head and face and curled up on the ground covering his head with his arms, the report said, adding the attackers then picked him up, dumped him on a park bench and continued the attack.

Singh was left bleeding and unconscious on the footpath, suffering bone fractures, severe swelling and bruising.

The pair stole 80 dollars in cash from his wallet and split it among them, They then called for Trifunovic, 20, to collect them. Singh was quoted as saying that the attack had shattered his confidence and he suffered flashbacks. "I’m too scared to walk at night," he said. "My life has completely changed. I feel scared to go outside."

Singh said he had thought Australians were welcoming and friendly but had changed his mind. Police arrested the trio soon after the assault.

Trifunovic told police the pair had offered him USD 10 for his role but he refused the money. He said the trio had driven around Sunshine looking for an Indian for "10 minutes, tops".

Comensoli pleaded guilty to intentionally causing serious injury and robbery, while Trifunovic pleaded guilty to aiding a robbery.

Defence barrister Ron Tait denied there was a racial aspect to Trifunovic’s crime. He said the crime was shocking but his client was still young with a clean record, and asked that he be spared jail. The crown called for jail terms for Comensoli and Trifunovic.

County Court Judge Meryl Sexton said she would need to consider what part racism played in the attack. Comensoli’s pre-sentencing hearing was adjourned pending a psychology and youth justice report.

Metaxas was sentenced in March to three years in a youth justice centre, after pleading guilty to intentionally causing serious injury and robbery.