Australian police arrest two for attack on Indian student

September 25th, 2009 MELBOURNE - A drunk Australian footballer allegedly assaulted and injured an Indian taxi driver after an altercation on Hoodle street here. Michael Hurley, who plays for Essendon, has been arrested for kicking and punching the Indian cab driver outside a fast-food outlet.

August 31st, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Australian government would ensure that student victims of racist attacks either get a seat in a different college or are refunded the entire college fee, Australian Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard said here Monday. Gillard, who is on a five-day visit to India, was interacting with students of the Lady Shri Ram College.

August 21st, 2009 MELBOURNE - Australian police are determined to track down an Indian student who ran over a teenager and later fled to India on a false passport. A police official stressed "we're prepared to do whatever it takes to bring him back".

June 15th, 2009 MELBOURNE - Another Indian student has been bashed and racially abused, this time in Melbourne's east. According to a report in The Age, Sunny Bajaj, 20, said he was taunted and punched by two men as he was about to get into his car in Boronia on Friday night.

June 12th, 2009 MELBOURNE - In yet another attack on Indians in Australia, a 22-year-old student was allegedly assaulted by a teenager in Adelaide's busy Rundle Mall. According to the police, the attack took place on Thursday.

June 8th, 2009 MELBOURNE - Adding to the series of ongoing 'racist' attacks, a 23-year-old Indian student was beaten up for the second time in a fortnight by a group of youths in Melbourne. The latest attack makes Kamaljit the 11th person of Indian community to have suffered assault in last one month in Australia.

June 3rd, 2009 NEW DELHI - Australian universities Wednesday joined their government in condemning the attacks on Indian students in that country. Glen Withers, the chief executive of Universities Australia - a body representing 38 universities, expressed regret at the attacks on Indian students.

June 3rd, 2009 CANBERRA - Australian Federal Police (AFP) Chief Commissioner Simon Overland has appealed for calm and a restoration of peace after another Indian student was slashed by one of five attackers. The 21-year-old nursing student is recovering from being slashed across the chest by a cardboard cutter after being confronted in the Chisholm TAFE car park in Dandenong, in Melbourne's southeast.

June 2nd, 2009 SYDNEY - Another Indian student has been attacked by a group of males in Frankston in Melbourne after they stopped him and demanded money and cigarettes despite Australian Government's promise to take strict action against those who attack Indians. Nardeep Singh, a nursing student at Chisholm College was slashed with a stanley knife carried by one of the group, a spokeswoman for Victoria Police said.

May 30th, 2009 CANBERRA - Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has reassured his Indian counterpart, Manmohan Singh that his government will take appropriate steps to ensure the safety and security of Indian students in Australia. Diplomatic relations between the two countries are said to be tense after India expressed anger and dismay over attacks on Indian students in Australia.

May 29th, 2009 MELBOURNE - The attacks on Indian students in this Australian city were not racially motivated, an official said Friday, adding "we think they are vulnerable, we don't think it's racial". Deputy Commissioner Kieran Walshe said there was no indication that a rise in assaults and robberies against Indian students in Melbourne's west was due to "race hate".

May 28th, 2009 MELBOURNE - In the wake of the attacks on Indian students in the country, an Australian police officer is to travel to India to brief prospective students on avoiding street violence in Australia, media reports said. Police community liaison officer Senior Constable Victor Robb said that his advice would mainly cover "safety strategy tips", Radio Australia reported Thursday.

May 28th, 2009 CANBERRA/NEW DELHI - The Australian Government on Thursday said that it will take steps to book the persons responsible for the attack on Indian students in Victoria, and added that it would take all steps required to ensure the Indian student community's safety in the country. Australia's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Education Julia Gillard issued a statement in Australian Parliament in which she said: "I want to send a message loud and clear that international students are very welcome in this nation and Australia will not tolerate discrimination against or victimisation of any of our international students." She also announced a new initiative: A roundtable of international student representatives to discuss with Government issues affecting their study experience.

May 28th, 2009 MELBOURNE - Police has arrested two people this morning for assaulting an Indian student on a Melbourne train after he refused to give them cigarettes. The two youths who were picked from Hoppers Crossing were aged 16 and 18, and are being interrogated.

May 28th, 2009 MELBOURNE - An Indian student, who was robbed and stabbed in this Australian city, had pleaded with his attackers who just laughed at him, a media report said. Baljinder Singh had left a railway station Monday when two men carrying weapons approached him and demanded money.