Insult to injury Down Under

The house Sravan Kumar, the 25-year-old Indian student seriously injured in a racist attack in Australia last Sunday, shared with three other Indians, was burgled even as he battled for life in hospital. All four students were away in hospital when unknown intruders broke into their houses and stole everything available, reported PTI.

“They have no clothes or anything left in the house and the students are really feeling insecure and unsafe,” said Gautam Gupta, president of the Federation of Indian student Association (FISA). “They believe it was done by members of the same group who had assaulted them during the weekend,” he said. There was, however, no official confirmation of the burglary so far.

Meanwhile, doctors are still unsure about Sravan Kumar’s safety. “They are willing to comment on his condition only after 48 hours,” Sandeep, Sravan’s friend, told DNA from Melbourne.

About 20 Indian students, most of them from Andhra Pradesh, were partying when some local teenagers attacked them. Sravan Kumar and his roommates Sandeep, Kiran and Subhash, were at the party. All four suffered injuries, but Sravan was grievously hurt. The attackers drove a screwdriver into Sravan’s head and he lost consciousness immediately.

“We all escaped with injuries. But, Sravan is not well,” Kiran, who was also injured in the incident, said. The friends moved Sravan to the Royal Melbourne Hospital. “We are definitely scared. We continue to stay in the same apartment, but will move out of there soon,” Kiran said.

They fear further attacks, as there is no sign of enhanced security. Sravan hails from a middle class family. His father, Chidamber Rao, is a farmer in Khammam, about 250 km from Hyderabad. Sravan had gone to Australia two years back to pursue automotive engineering at the Cambridge International College. It is not known why the others were putting up at his place.

“We are eager to go to Melbourne and attend to Sravan personally. We are still going through the formalities for a visa,” Sravan’s uncle T Srinivas Rao said. An agency report said they received their visa late on Thursday. “We hear that Sravan’s condition is critical. We will know the actual situation only when we go there,” he said. Srinivas Rao and Sravan’s father will be going to Melbourne.

There are reports the Australian police have nabbed two attackers and framed one of them for attempt to murder. The Australian government is also working on a plan to set up a round table of foreign students to understand their concerns. A team of Australian police is expected to visit India soon to assure prospective students and their parents about safety in Australia.