In continued violence, two more Indian taxi drivers were attacked by their passengers in two different cities neighbouring Melbourne. While one taxi driver was kicked and punched in the face in Geelong on Saturday night, the second Indian taxi driver, a student, escaped a physical assault after being shown a knife in the historic gold mining town of Ballarat.
These two incidents take the number of recorded attacks on Indian taxi drivers to four since
last Thursday.
Meanwhile, Indian High Commissioner Sujatha Singh accompanied by Indian Consul General in Melbourne Anita Nayar visited the Nanaksar Taath gurdwara in Cranbourne, which was attacked by arsonists last week. Both of them also visited one of the state’s largest gurdwara at Blackburn.
In Geelong, an Indian taxi driver was beaten and kicked by two of his five drunken passengers who tried to steal his cab after refusing to pay their fare on Saturday night. The cabbie, in his mid-20s, suffered a black eye.
Senior Sergeant Adrian Benne from Geelong Police said the two drunken men had been apprehended. “We are waiting until they are in a fit state to be interviewed. It is over the cash. They are drunk and got angry. This could have happened to any taxi driver,” he said. While one of the assailants was pinned to the ground by passers by, the other gave himself up to the police, witnesses said.
In the second incident, an Indian cabbie, who is studying MBA in Ballarat, was lucky to escape without any injury after his two passengers fled without paying and after showing him a knife. The attacks are indicative of the rising incidence of crime and street violence in this state, which becomes especially pronounced in Friday and Saturday evenings when people engage in binge drinking.
