Melbourne: The Indian community in Australia is outraged by racism and major cities have rocked by protests.
But the attack that started it all and gave victims of Australian racism a face, was the brutal beating Saurabh Sharma got in a train in Melbourne.
A gang of white teenagers repeatedly kicked and punched Sourabh Sharma leaping over seats and knocked him down on to the ground. Although the five teenagers were caught on CCTV beating Sharma police deny the attack was racially motivated.
But Sourabh says as the group that beat him also shouted slogans demanding that Indian students should go home.
"They were still bashing me even after taking all the stuff. The way they were bashing me was cruel," claimed Sharma.
He suffered a broken cheek bone, lost teeth and is forced to drink his milk with a straw. His fellow student Kanan Kharbanda, too, was a victim of a similar crime. Kharbanda is now blind in one eye after being assaulted by a group of 20 men.
"He came and he asked me do you have a dollar and I said no... and he just gave me a punch. They were wearing knuckles," said Kharbanda.
Indian community leaders believe they are race based attacks and they say that over the past 12 months over 70 Indians have been assaulted in Melbourne.
"It's not limited to students even middle-aged people have been bashed, couples have been bashed, girls have been bashed," said Indian community spokesperson Nitin Gupta.
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